Emergency Amendment to the Rules of Racing

Hi everyone,

Yesterday, the GRNZ Board unanimously agreed to an Emergency Amendment to the GRNZ Rules of Racing pursuant to Rule 11A of the GRNZ Constitution.

They unanimously resolved to suspend the application of Rule 102(1A) of the GRNZ Rules of Racing, effective 11:59pm 14 February 2023.

This means that greyhounds will not be required to undergo a satisfactory weight trial after a break in racing of 28 days. 

Note that LR101A remains in place, which states that, “Where the weight of a greyhound recorded at an Event varies by more than 4 percent from the weight recorded in an Event or satisfactory trial in which it last performed that greyhound shall be scratched from the race.”

The suspension of Rule 102(1A) is based on animal welfare grounds, including an increase in injury rate among greyhounds returning to racing following a satisfactory weight trial since the rule came into effect on 1 February 2023. Suspending the rule will allow this to be reviewed and further assessed to ensure there are no unintended adverse negative consequences from the application of this rule.

Under our Constitution, Emergency Rules can stay in place for a maximum of three months. In the meantime, GRNZ will undertake further work to review the merits of this rule in coming months, in full consultation with the Serious Injury Review Committee and the Racing Integrity Board.

We will keep you updated as matters progress. 

We hope you are all staying safe. Please contact the GRNZ Office if you require any assistance at this time. 

Thanks,

GRNZ