It’s a credit to all involved in greyhound racing – in all three codes in fact – that we were able to maintain a racing programme in 2020 largely unaffected by the issues of the world around us.
And that hard work and commitment saw 2020 produce some truly memorable moments at Sandown Park – Hard Style Rico’s breathtaking TAB Melbourne Cup win in track record time; Here’s Tears breaking Miata’s 715m record; Black Opium finally snaring that elusive group 1 win; Ben Magri’s first group race win; Brendan Pursell’s first group 1 – moments that will live long in the memory.
Equally pleasing and no less exciting was a number of trainers winning for the first time at Sandown Park. From retired septuagenarians looking to stay active to teenagers making their way in the sport and everyone in between, greyhound racing – even at the highest levels of the sport – is truly a sport for all.
In fact, 259 trainers won the 1051 races held at the View Road circuit in 2020, sharing in over $7m in prize money along the way.
Before we kick off another exciting year of racing with our first meeting of the new year on Sunday, here’s a look 2020 in numbers.
Sandown Park by the numbers in 2020
Meetings 91
SAN 46
SAP 45
Races 1051
SAN 551
SAP 500
Runners 7654
SAN 4225
SAP 3429
Greyhounds
Fastest wins
SAN
515 – 28.909 (TR), Hard Style Rico
595 – 33.806, Hooked On Scotch
715 – 41.157 (TR), Here’s Tears
SAP
515 – 29.132, Immunity
595 – 33.757, Houdini Boy
715 – 41.578, Captain Dynamite
Fastest first split: 4.93, Shima Shine
Most starts: 28, Shanlyn Charlott
Most wins: 9, Tiggerlong Tonk
Most prizemoney: $459,750, Hard Style Rico
Average 515m winning time:
SAN 29.609
SAP 29.794
Average grade 5 winning time:
SAN 29.677
SAP 29.745
Biggest winner: 40.4kg, Byron Bale
Smallest winner: 22.4kg, Tansy
Biggest winning margin: 15.75L, You Tell Me
Longest priced winner (TAB): $88.50, Dewana Classic
Shortest priced winner (TAB): $1.04 (four times), You Tell Me, Aston Peroni, Hirstglen, Zipping Marshall
Individual winners: 623
Trainers
Most starters: 318, Andrea Dailly
Most wins: 57, Jeff Britton
Best strike rate (min 20 starts): 33%, Kel Greenough (34 wins from 103 starts)
Most prize money: $463,530, Luckie Karabitsakos
Individual winners: 259
Fernando Bale sired 18.97% of starters (1452) at Sandown Park in 2020 and 24.45% of winners (257), winning $1,651,571!
