Great support for the sport

On the eve of the Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase, minister for Racing the Hon. David Harris MP and 44 of his parliamentary colleagues attended a special function at Parliament House.

The event was hosted by GRNSW and the Parliamentary Friends of Greyhound Racing, a group founded in 2021 with bipartisan support, to promote greyhound racing throughout NSW as an entertaining, transparent and sustainable sport.

The co-chairs of the group, the Hon Sonia Hornery MP, Dave Layzell MP, and the Hon Mark Banasiak MLC, were delighted by the turnout to hear an industry update on racing, rehoming and the United States greyhound adoption program.

Since its inception, the Parliamentary Friends of Greyhound Racing has been one of the biggest friendship groups within the NSW Parliament. Many members have a greyhound track in their local electorates, and many attend their local club's feature race meetings.

The special guest was rugby league star Ryan Papenhuyzen, an ambassador for GRNSW and Greyhounds As Pets. "It's great to see so many people here take time out of the busy schedules to come along to this event and talk about the sport, and greyhounds in general," said Papenhuyzen, who is recovering from a broken ankle during the NRL finals.

While photographs with the injured Melbourne Storm fullback were much sought after, he had several rivals for attention.

Trainer Craig Chappelow brought along three extremely cute puppies, while the Greyhounds As Pets team were accompanied by two retired racers.

"I was delighted to be able to attend the event, and I particularly enjoyed speaking with the Greyhounds As Pets staff about the how the dogs are transitioned from their life on the racetrack to living on someone's lounge," said Hon Rachel Merton MLC.

This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW.