Canberra's greyhound racing industry's fight to return to racing has received a million-dollar glimmer of hope that could help revive the banned sport in the ACT.
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A controversial $500,000 contribution from the state government will help fund the world's richest greyhound race, part of a $1.7 million series clamouring for attention in the middle of horse racing's Sydney and Melbourne spring carnivals.
Canberra Greyhound Racing Club chairman Alan Tutt confirmed ACT trainers and greyhounds are eligible for the Million Dollar Chase and says the lucrative opportunity means "the government has achieved nothing".
The ACT government has not budged on its stance with a ban coming into effect on greyhound racing in the capital earlier this year over the live baiting scandal, but Tutt is refusing to go quietly.
The final, worth $1 million to the winner, will be held on October 20 - just a week after thoroughbred racing's $13 million The Everest at Royal Randwick - and will surpass the Melbourne Cup as greyhound racing's richest race.
While the Canberra industry is locked in a fight with the ACT government, its NSW counterpart - which was on the brink of extinction less than two years ago after-then Premier Mike Baird legislated to ban the sport - have welcomed the stunning turnaround.
"At the end of the day we’re still fighting here to justify a return to racing," Tutt said.
"The government still hangs their hat on it because Greyhound Racing NSW couldn’t be separated from the ACT, but it just goes to show we are a unified territory-state, and that has achieved absolutely nothing.
"In fact, the animal welfare integrity has actually improved this year. I don’t understand why the government doesn’t reverse it, as they should have when they said they couldn’t separate us from NSW.
"NSW have gone ahead in leaps and bounds and have integrity welfare everywhere, it just doesn’t seem to be right that they continue to put their head in the sand and realise we’ve done nothing wrong and the club and the industry here in the ACT should be back racing again.
"Corporate bookmakers like Ladbrokes [the Million Dollar Chase backer] are confident they’re putting money back into the industry knowing it’s an even playing field for everyone, it’s fantastic."
Minister for Racing Paul Toole was forced to defend the Berejiklian government's half-a-million subsidy to help launch the series but described the concept as a "fresh start" for the industry.
"I actually think the guys have done a really good job in actually setting the pathway to ensure that this is going to be an industry that is going to be around for a long time," Toole said.
The winner's purse will be paid on the proviso the greyhound's connections commit to re-home their chaser with the industry-run Greyhound As Pets program or private provider at the end of its racing career. It can also keep the greyhound as a companion.
If it is not successfully re-homed, connections will be forced to refund the $1 million winning bounty. Entry fees for the Million Dollar Chase series will also include a donation to the re-homing program.
But the announcement drew a sharp response from other sectors of NSW parliament, with Greens MP Dr Mehreen Faruqi slamming the state government's $500,000 contribution.
"It is honestly quite sickening that the NSW government is rewarding the greyhound racing industry with hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars when they have made zero effort to stop the killing of greyhounds once they cease earning a profit," she said.
"[The] $500,000 of taxpayers money going towards a single race is a real slap in the face for communities out there desperate for the government to invest in their schools and hospitals."
Qualifying finals for the Million Dollar Chase will be run at a number of regional venues throughout the state before a semi-final series at Wentworth Park, while a masters series will complement the event.
