The Amazing Chase, sponsored by Formpro, is locked away in the starting traps.
The mouth-watering match up of four 527m match races between two greyhounds racing paw to paw over a 40 minute period, when $30,500 in stakes must be won, will occur at the Manukau Stadium on Sunday, July 30 in what will be an enthralling season finale.
Two greyhounds will go head to head in each match. Not only are they racing each other; they are also racing the clock.
Keep track of the qualifying times here.
The Amazing Chase is based, although with some points of difference, on the hugely successful and popular Speed Star series conducted by the Melbourne-based Sandown Park club.
Hosting a similar series in New Zealand had been talked about around the traps in this country for a while. The recent Sandown Speed Star series prompted Trackside TV presenter and Dogzone host Elizabeth Whelan, who came up with the Amazing Chase name, to approach GRNZ Chairman Craig Rendle who explains more.
“Liz and I discussed the idea with the Auckland club. We received a positive response so I took the concept to the GRNZ Board who thought it was definitely a great idea to try something different, believing the Amazing Chase was an ideal concept to introduce here. I guess you can say plagiarising is the best form of flattery!”
“We added in the donation for charity component so the code can make a positive contribution back to the community.”
THE OVERALL PRIZES
The winner of each match will receive $3,000 while the beaten greyhound shall receive $1,000.
The greyhound who clocks the quickest overall 527m time from the four matches will be paid an additional $10,000, followed by $2,500 for the second quickest, then $1,500 for third, while the fourth fastest will benefit from an additional $500. It is possible that some of these placings could occur in the same match up.
THE FORMAT
The format sees traps 1 and 3 used for each match. The first match will see the trap one dog wearing the red racing vest and the trap three dog the checks. Match two has the trap one dog carrying the white, while the trap three dog the blue vest and so on where the dog jumping from the three trap in the fourth matchup will be sighted in the pink vest. If either or both reserves are required, then they will don their respective reserve rug colours.
The match races will be treated as a normal eight dog event by the TAB. For example, the race win dividend will be declared on the greyhound who clocks the fastest time, with the quickest three greyhounds paying the place dividends. The same scenario applies for the race exotics. E.g. The First4 dividend will be declared on the greyhounds who returns the fastest four times. Futures and Final Field betting options, along with head to head markets plus other fixed bet types are under current discussion.
THE QUALIFYING PATH
June 23 through to July 23 are the key dates. The quickest 527m (Manukau) and 520m (Hatrick and Addington) race times clocked by nominated greyhounds will be merged with the quickest official (solo) trial times (same distances) by nominated greyhounds at each venue. All times will be official electronically recorded times.
The greyhounds with the quickest two official times from each track, along with the third fastest Manukau time will qualify for the Amazing Chase final. A ballot will be held between the runners of the third fastest times from Hatrick and Addington. The ballot winner will complete the drawn field, while the loser of the ballot will be the first reserve. The fourth quickest Manukau greyhound will be the second reserve. A ballot will also be conducted if any greyhound records identical times that is required to be separated for field selection purposes.
The official Amazing Chase box draw will be televised live on Dogzone in the presence of a stipendiary steward during the Monday, July 24 edition.
THE NOMINATION PROCESS
An official nomination form will be available on this website from Thursday, May 25 and it will also be available from the three clubs involved. The nomination form must be received by GRNZ no later than 9am Monday, June 19. It is a condition of all nominations that a $100 donation must accompany the nom. All donations will be donated to a charity selected by GRNZ.
Only officially nominated greyhounds may contest the Amazing Chase qualifying process. For example, if a greyhound/s who isn’t nominated for the series clocks a race time on any of the three tracks quicker than nominated greyhounds during the qualifying period, that greyhound/s will not be eligible for the series.
THE FUTURE
It is planned to rotate the Amazing Chase annually between the Manukau, Hatrick and Addington tracks with each track hosting the event once every three years. Consideration will be given to perhaps including an Amazing Chase set of matchups for the short course sprinters in the future.
Pawnote: The above Amazing Chase detail is purely an explanation about the series. Please click here for the complete list of Amazing Chase terms and conditions.
How would off these three classy current track record holders fared in an Amazing Chase series back in their eras? (From left): Winsome Ashley (Manukau 527m); Little Mother (Hatrick 520m); Miss Koonawarra (Addington 520m)
