Cole's Record Run Highlights NZ Season

The COVID-19 ravaged 2019/20 New Zealand racing season was finally kicked into touch when the season concluded at Hatrick last Friday. 

Five-weeks of the season was lost during the enforced Kiwi racing shutdown, while all group and feature races were suspended upon the early May return to racing.

Despite that there were a number of outstanding performances which highlighted the racing season.

It was no surprise that the record-breaking Lisa Cole kennel mentored the final season race winner when Big Time Frosty prevailed.

Cole completed her season having conditioned a staggering 925 winners, 66 more than her previous season record. Her greyhounds also accumulated a mammoth $2,213,237 in stake earnings – also a new national record.

John McInerney was the clear runner-up having produced 540 winners ($1,042,114) from his dual kennel training operation.

Young Canterbury trainer Daniel Lane enjoyed an impressive season training 99 winners (78 placings) from the 257 starters he boxed-away. That provided him with the outstanding UDR figure of 0.5313, enabling him to take out the NZ Trainers' strike-rate title. 

The West Australian owned Pinny Mack stylishly won New Zealand's richest greyhound race, the $125,000 Christchurch Casino New Zealand Cup for his late trainer Steve Clark.

It was a strong finish to the season for Canterbury conditioner Craig Roberts when he produced Uthor Bale (pictured) to stop the clock in a track record breaking 37.57 for his 645m assignment last Thursday evening.

A cold, wintery exposed Addington Raceway July evening isn't really conducive to producing fast race times. Obviously, the Jan Wheeler owned Uthor Bale isn't aware of that fact.

Veteran northern trainer Ben Craik hung up the collars and leads after 50-years of mentoring greyhounds. He enjoyed a successful afternoon at Cambridge last Thursday when he trained his final two winners.

Craik always had handy greyhounds in his kennels throughout his stellar career with perhaps his most notable being Blue Dundee which annexed the 1984 New Zealand Greyhound of the Year title when she snatched race victory in the very last and deciding race of that season.

He has passed on his vast knowledge to his daughters Lisa and Tracey who wasted no-time in claiming success for their new training partnership when they produced four winners during the first day of the 2020/21 racing season at Manukau last Sunday.

The 2020 editions of the New Zealand Oaks and New Zealand Derby were abandoned owing to COVID-19.

However, greyhounds who lost their once in a lifetime chance of having a crack at the blue ribbon restricted age races will receive a belated opportunity.  

Greyhound Racing NZ has reinstated the two $45,000 group 1 events, with the girls contesting their Oaks final at Addington on August 27 while the boys will front up at Cambridge on September 10 for their elite Derby event.

GRNZ has also introduced monthly premier meetings, revolving around group races where all races on the cards will carry enhanced stakes.

The first of these meetings will be hosted at Addington on August 13 which features the New Zealand finals of the Australian National Sprint and Distance events.

The meeting will also include the running of the 2020 $27,465 Canterbury Futurity final at group 2 level, with three 520m heats being contested during Thursday's Addington meeting.