☀️ GBGB LATEST NEWS ☀️ {+ The Rules Of Racing}

[SALFORD GIRL]

NEW 2018 PRIZE MONEY INITIATIVES LAUNCHED

FEBRUARY 13, 2018


GBGB is pleased to announce a number of new initiatives which will see graded owners and trainers benefit from additional prize money and funding to the tune of circa £400K between February – November 2018.

Following stakeholder consultation on new and effective ways of distributing prize money to graded connections, the GBGB Racing Committee, comprising of promoters, trainers and owners, have agreed three different schemes to succeed the successful and popular Owners’ Bonus Series competitions, launched in 2011.

In a similar format to previous Owners’ Bonus Series events, the Mega Owners’ Bonus Series will comprise two round heats and final competitions for 12 or 18 graded greyhounds. The winner will receive a bumper £1000 and a presentation jacket, the second placed greyhound £250, and other finalists £100 with a further £100 going to the winning trainer. The Mini Owners’ Bonus Series will comprise competitions in the same format with the winner of each final receiving £500 and a presentation jacket, second place £100 and others £75. Again, a further £100 will go to the winning trainer.

Each GBGB track will stage three Mini Bonus Series and three Mega Bonus Series events during 2018.

All tracks will also be provided funds to run a number of Owner and Trainer Track Nights, with an additional £150 prize money added to tracks’ regular prize money levels across each of ten races on the card and trophies for all winners. Four Owner and Trainer nights will be staged throughout the year and will be further enhanced through food or buffets, or a compere to host an evening for owners and trainers.

Events begin this week with heats of Mega or Mini Bonus Series competitions at Nottingham (Fri 16th Feb), Peterborough (Weds 14th Feb), Shawfield (Fri 16th Feb) and Sheffield (Sat 17th Feb), and with the first Owner and Trainer track night currently scheduled for 24th February at Pelaw Grange.

Peter Harnden, one of the Practitioner members on the Racing Committee said “The Owners’ Bonus Series has worked really well for owners over the last six years, but it is always good to come up with new ideas. The Owners’ Bonus Owner & Trainer nights with added Prize Money across ten races will enable the benefit to be spread widely to lots of owners. Our recent trials of these type of events at Nottingham have proved hugely popular. The Mega and Mini Bonus events give a competitive element and the chance for graded runners to run for £1,000 is fantastic”.

All events will be subject to regular review. Upcoming track nights and competition dates will be publicised via the GBGB website and Twitter feed whenever possible.

[BVADMIN]

SIS provides funding to the British Greyhound Breeders Forum


SIS (Sports Information Services), a leading live pictures and data supplier, has agreed to provide funding over the next three years to the British Greyhound Breeders Forum (BGBF).

The long-term funding will allow the BGBF to achieve their ambition of staging a series of Category 1 and Category 2 competitions across a variety of distances for British Bred greyhounds, supported by the tracks, the BGRF and now by SIS.

Gordon Bissett, Greyhound Operations Manager at SIS, said: “We are pleased to be supporting and encouraging British breeding for the next three years with our partnership with the BGBF. Not every pup bred can be as good as King Elvis, who swept all before him in 2017, but by encouraging British bred competition more dogs of that ability may be bred.

“The proposal from John Marriott to SIS was to provide sufficient long-term funding to permit a series of competitions across different distances and tracks over the period to encourage British Breeders. If there are British Bred competitions in place for the next three years then there is a focus and a target for the pups that are bred here in the U.K.”

John Marriott, Chairman of BGBF, said: “I’m thankful to SIS for providing us with long term funding to enable us to continue to encourage and support British breeders. We hope that other sponsors may also come forward to offer further support. As a consequence of having certainty about funding we are now able to confirm and indeed expand our range of competitions. In 2018 we shall be including a new, Category 2, sprint competition at Harlow, with details due to be published very shortly in the Calendar

[BVADMIN]

GBGB LATEST NEWS:

FRIDAY 23rd FEBRUARY 2018...


The latest edition of the GBGB Calendar

www.gbgb.org.uk/uploads/Current%20Calendars/Calendar%2023%20February%202018%20Vol10%20No4.pdf

[BVADMIN]

GBGB LATEST NEWS:

FRIDAY 9th MARCH 2018...


The latest edition of the GBGB Calendar

www.gbgb.org.uk/uploads/Current%20Calendars/Calendar%209%20March%202018%20Vol10%20No5.pdf

[BVADMIN]

TAKEN FROM THE RACING POST
FRIDAY 9/3/18..

[BVADMIN]

GBGB Launch Greyhound Commitment
14/03/2018....



Greyhound Board of Great Britain Launches The Greyhound Commitment




The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) is today launching The Greyhound Commitment, an 8 point agenda for the sport.

GBGB, which is responsible for the welfare and care of all racing greyhounds and regulates the successful and clean operation of the sport, has published The Greyhound Commitment setting out its expectations of how the sport and industry should be run with animal welfare at its heart. Greyhound racing is the sixth most popular spectator sport in the UK, attended by over 2 million people each year.

The Greyhound Commitment sets out a series of promisesandinitiatives that bring together what is already best practice in the sport for universal implementation across its 22 licensed tracks. Commitments range from introducing further safety measures at racing tracks, raising standards at residential kennels to providing training and development for the 7,000 people whose jobs depend on the sport.

Launching the Commitment, Mark Bird Managing Director of GBGB, said:“We are a country of animal lovers and sports lovers so it is vital that animal welfare is at the heart of greyhound racing. The Greyhound Commitment, which we are launching today, sets out our intent that every greyhound that can be homed when it retires is successfully homed.

"Greyhounds make calm, gentle and loveable pets that are excellent with children and are extremely affectionate. When they retire from racing, many greyhounds are kept on as pets by their owners, breeders or trainers.

“Charities such as our partner, The Greyhound Trust and others do amazing work in organising homes for greyhounds but there is more to be done to meet our mission of every greyhound that can be homed, being homed.”

Alongside The Greyhound Commitment, GBGB is publishing the annual statistics for greyhound injuries and retirements. The figures show that the UK sport has the lowest independently verified injury rates for the sport anywhere in the world.

In 2017, there were over 400,000 runs in greyhound racing in Great Britain. The racing injury rate was 1.15% – the lowest independently verified injury rate in the world. 257 dogs suffered racing fatalities, a rate of 0.06%, considerably lower than that of British horseracing at 0.18%.

Over the year, 86% of retiring greyhounds were successfully homed by charities or retained within the sport by owners, trainers or breeders.

Of the remaining 14%, the vast majority died or were put to sleep, following vets’ advice, for legitimate medical or welfare reasons; leaving 348 dogs that were unfortunately put to sleep because no suitable home could be found or because there was no viable alternative – such as because of the high cost of medical treatment.

Bird said:“The publication of today’s data demonstrates the levels of care and attention already being provided to the welfare of dogs in our sport and proves that the overwhelming majority of greyhounds are successfully homed when they retire. But there were 348 dogs this year for whom no home could be found and our mission is to reduce this number to zero.

“We are dependent on the generosity of supporters of charities such as the Greyhound Trust and the voluntary contribution of the betting industry to maximise our ability to support and home all retired greyhounds. We are determined to meet this challenge so that every retired greyhound that can be homed is successfully homed.”

GBGB is also announcing progress in discussions with all the major UK bookmakers to increase the amount the sport receives each year to support welfare initiatives.

Bird added: “We are close to having all the major bookmakers signed up to the voluntary levy which is a vital means of funding our welfare activities. Greyhound racing is an integral part of sports betting in this country and it is pleasing to see the bookmakers recognising their responsibility to making worthwhile contributions.”

Dr Simon Gower BVSc MRCVS, Veterinary Director of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, said:“Across the sport we are committed to the welfare of greyhounds as today’s figures show. The Greyhound Commitment is an excellent statement that sets out what all of us in the sport are doing and need to continue to do to ensure that welfare remains at the heart of our sport.”

[BVADMIN]

The Greyhound Commitment...



On behalf of our sport and industry, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, working with our trusted stakeholders and relying on voluntary funding from bookmakers, is proud to make and uphold the following commitments:



Greyhound welfare and safety is at the heart of everything we do
We do this by:

Having a zero tolerance policy on the mistreatment of greyhounds;
Having an independent Veterinary Surgeon present at all tracks to check the health and wellbeing of every animal both before and after racing;
Enforcing a rigorous, independent disciplinary process with strong sanctions for any individual who is found to be in breach of the GBGB Rules of Racing;
Having a dedicated Welfare Officer at all GBGB tracks;
Promoting best practice for animal husbandry for those involved in the industry through professional development, advice and access to innovative research.
We are also publishing annual, independently verified injury and retirement data. Each year we will look to improve rates further.

Every racing greyhound is treated with care and respect throughout its career
We do this by:

Conducting a minimum of two unannounced visits by GBGB officials to residential greyhound kennels every year to ensure that welfare needs are being met;
Ensuring greyhounds are cared for by licensed, suitably qualified and competent staff during their careers;
Licensing and inspecting stadiums through government-approved, UKAS accredited methods. We are adding the same accreditation to our inspection of trainers’ kennels in 2018/19 to further safeguard our high standards both on and off the track;
Making sure that greyhounds travel to and from stadiums in comfort by providing air-cooling units for trainers’ vehicles.


In 2018, we will be launching a GBGB Code of Practice for all trainers and kennel hands for residential kennels.

Our independently verified injury rates remain the lowest in the world and will improve further still.
We do this by:

Having an independent Veterinary Surgeon at all GBGB tracks to check the health and wellbeing of every animal both before and after racing and to provide emergency care in the event that any dog needs it;
Working with stadia to provide the safest possible racing surfaces;
Having a Track Safety Consultant to ensure best practice in track preparation across all our stadia.
In 2018, we will be launching an injury-recovery scheme to help pay for medical costs where greyhounds sustain an injury whilst racing.

Over the next five years, we will also be developing our relationship with the Sport Turf Research Institute. The STRI is a globally recognised company on track and athletic playing surfaces, which has already endorsed our track preparation and safety standards.

Wherever possible, every dog leaving racing enjoys a long and happy retirement.
We do this by:

Investing substantially each year in greyhound homing schemes – the GBGB and Racecourse Promoters spend in excess of £2.24 million on retirements every year;
Working in partnership with The Greyhound Trust, and other independent charities, to find suitable homes for greyhounds that have raced on GBGB licensed tracks and further promote their excellence as family pets;
Continuing to develop our injury recovery scheme to provide grants to help with the costs of veterinary care.


In 2019, we are looking to develop, in partnership with the Greyhound Trust, a behavioural assessment to help ensure that all greyhounds are suitably homed.

Every race is run fairly, safely and that attending a race meeting is an enjoyable and fun experience for all involved.
We do this by:

Using our regulatory powers to ensure that all involved in GBGB licensed stadia follow the Rules of Racing, and enforcing a rigorous, independent disciplinary process – with the appropriate sanctions – where this is breached;
Having a world class anti-doping system – more than 8,500 samples from greyhounds were taken in 2017 and were independently tested as part of our work to prevent and handle any threats to the integrity of our sport and to protect the welfare of licensed racing greyhounds. Only a tiny proportion of these (0.07%) were found to be directly related to doping;
Being an inclusive sport, welcoming people of all ages and backgrounds either as spectators or as industry professionals.


Those working within the sport have access to training at the beginning of their careers, ongoing, accredited professional development.
We do this by:

Funding research into the health and welfare of greyhounds that further educates those working within our sport and improves standards further;
Providing those working within our sport access to a library of up-to-date, innovative research on best practice;
Providing training for track preparation and grounds staff at GBGB licensed stadia.
In 2018 we will be furthering this commitment through the launch of an Animal Care and Welfare Assistant Apprenticeship scheme for young people entering the sport which will lead to a Diploma in Animal Care

Funding received from the betting industry significantly contributes to greyhound welfare.
We do this by:

Directing at least 75% of the funding received from the betting industry to animal welfare; this year, for example, we are contributing substantial investment towards the costs of the Greyhound Trust’s new flagship national homing centre.
Working with government to maximise income from the betting industry.
Together, we continue to promote our sport and nurture the public’s love of greyhounds.
We do this by:

Educating the public about greyhound racing and promoting greyhounds as a breed;
Promoting the considerable economic contribution of our sport, in employing over 7,000 people and remaining one of the most attended sports in the UK.
Over the next 12 months, we will be launching a GBGB ‘Greyhound Ambassador’ scheme which will bring together greyhound lovers and racing enthusiasts from all walks of life with the experience and skills to actively support and promote both racing and the successful retirement of greyhounds.

[BVADMIN]

The Greyhound Board of Great Britain have today released the injury and euthanasia data for all greyhounds to have raced in 2017.

How it will be received will depend much on the individual assumptions and claims made about the fate of racing greyhounds.

The figures for the annual number of broken hocks and track side euthanasias have been available on the DEFRA website for many years. These are more detailed figures, compiled by the track vets, as well as all the follow-up information collated by the Board’s own integrity and regulation department.

It shows 257 track side fatalities, around 11 per track, though three tracks have since closed. They were from around 400,000 race performances, giving greyhound racing a mortality rate of around one third of horse racing.

It shows that 86% of ex-racers are re-homed, a figure that flies in the face of ‘anti’ propaganda.

The remaining 14 per cent included all fatalities including racing accidents and death relating to illness and natural causes.

The two areas – already highlighted by GBGB as being their biggest cause for concerns are the ‘treatment cost/poor prognosis’ and ‘no home found’.

These figure extensively in the Board’s Greyhound Commitment.






Greyhound Board of Great Britain Launches The Greyhound Commitment
The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) is today launching The Greyhound Commitment, an 8 point agenda for their sport.

GBGB, which is responsible for the welfare and care of all racing greyhounds and regulates the successful and clean operation of the sport, has published The Greyhound Commitment setting out its expectations of how the sport and industry should be run with animal welfare at its heart. Greyhound racing is the sixth most popular spectator sport in the UK, attended by over 2 million people each year.

The Greyhound Commitment sets out a series of promises and initiatives that bring together what is already best practice in the sport for universal implementation across its 22 licensed tracks. Commitments range from introducing further safety measures at racing tracks, raising standards at residential kennels to providing training and development for the 7,000 people whose jobs depend on the sport.

Launching the Commitment, Mark Bird, Chief Executive of GBGB, will say:



“We are a country of animal lovers and sports lovers so it is vital that animal welfare is at the heart of greyhound racing. The Greyhound Commitment, which we are launching today, sets out our intent that every greyhound that can be homed when it retires is successfully homed.

“Greyhounds make calm, gentle and loveable pets that are excellent with children and are extremely affectionate. When they retire from racing, many greyhounds are kept on as pets by their owners, breeders or trainers.

“Charities such as our partner, The Greyhound Trust and others do amazing work in organising homes for greyhounds but there is more to be done to meet our mission of every greyhound that can be homed, being homed.”

Alongside The Greyhound Commitment, GBGB is publishing the annual statistics for greyhound injuries and retirements. The figures show that the UK sport has the lowest independently verified injury rates for the sport anywhere in the world.

In 2017, there were over 400,000 runs in greyhound racing in Great Britain. The racing injury rate was 1.15% – the lowest independently verified injury rate in the world. 257 dogs suffered racing fatalities, a rate of 0.06%, considerably lower than that of British horseracing at 0.18%.

Over the year, 86% of retiring greyhounds were successfully homed by charities or retained within the sport by owners, trainers or breeders.

Of the remaining 14%, the vast majority died or were put to sleep, following vets’ advice, for legitimate medical or welfare reasons; leaving 348 dogs that were unfortunately put to sleep because no suitable home could be found or because there was no viable alternative – such as because of the high cost of medical treatment.

Mark Bird said: “The publication of today’s data demonstrates the levels of care and attention already being provided to the welfare of dogs in our sport and proves that the overwhelming majority of greyhounds are successfully homed when they retire. But there were 348 dogs this year for whom no home could be found and our mission is to reduce this number to zero.

“We are dependent on the generosity of supporters of charities such as the Greyhound Trust and the voluntary contribution of the betting industry to maximise our ability to support and home all retired greyhounds. We are determined to meet this challenge so that every retired greyhound that can be homed is successfully homed.”

GBGB is also announcing progress in discussions with all the major UK bookmakers to increase the amount the sport receives each year to support welfare initiatives.

Mark Bird said: “We are close to having all the major bookmakers signed up to the voluntary levy which is a vital means of funding our welfare activities. Greyhound racing is an integral part of sports betting in this country and it is pleasing to see the bookmakers recognising their responsibility to making worthwhile contributions.”

Dr Simon Gower BVSc MRCVS, Veterinary Director of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, said:

“Across the sport we are committed to the welfare of greyhounds as today’s figures show. The Greyhound Commitment is an excellent statement that sets out what all of us in the sport are doing and need to continue to do to ensure that welfare remains at the heart of our sport.”

[BVADMIN]

[BVADMIN]

EFRA PRESS MINISTER ON GREYHOUND LEVY


In an astonishing development – EFRA have urged Sports Minister Tracey Crouch to seek a greyhound levy equivalent to 1% of gross turnover (not profit!!) to prevent ‘profiteering’ on greyhound racing writes Floyd Amphlett.

That request comes in the form of a letter – dated yesterday – in which the Government department draws attention to the GBGB’s publication of its injury and retirement data.

The Government Department make clear their ambitions that the greyhound industry should reduce the number of euthanased greyhounds and are suggesting that the betting industry should foot the bill.

For years Government disputed that greyhound racing was due a levy as ‘greyhound racing largely takes place at night’ When that argument was latterly dismissed in a review of the industry, it was determined that the introduction of a new levy would be contrary to European legislation as it basically amounted to state funding. That argument disappears with Brexit,

Following the scrapping of the Horse Race Levy, that industry now receives its funding via the Horserace Betting Regulations 2017 – the legislation which effectively closed the loophole on companies avoiding Gross Profit Tax on internet betting by operating from foreign locations – primarily Gilbraltar.