Emma Pritchard

The Grafton Greyhound Racing Club has been selected by Greyhound Racing NSW to host a new middle distance feature event this month.

Named in honour of the iconic river which weaves its way through the region, The Clarence has been introduced as an incentive for trainers looking to prepare their best four-legged stars for the running of the $125000 Ladbrokes Country Classic in Dubbo on March 16.

Featuring 660m heats to be run on February 18 ahead of The Clarence $25000 final on February 25, the non-grade series has been readily welcomed by local trainers with President of the Grafton Greyhound Racing Club John Corrigan describing early feedback in the lead up to the heats and final as “very positive”.

“It’s a great initiative for the club and middle-distance racing,” he said.

And there is extra incentive for trainers looking to enter their greyhounds in The Clarence with the first four placegetters in the race to receive automatic qualification for the Ladbrokes Country Classic semi-finals which will be run on March 9 in Dubbo.

The fields for The Clarence heats were not available at the time of publication and are expected to be finalised on February 14.

The Clarence Valley Independent will provide full coverage of The Clarence heats in the February 21 edition of our weekly publication.