Who would have thought that what started way back in 1873 in the colony of Victoria with its small population of 776,777 souls that we’d still be doing it today in 2025 with a population of 7.16 million souls. It’s true there have been many changes but we’ve evolved and adapted to ensure our greyhounds get to do what they love and most importantly in a safe environment.
This is the 152nd years since the first coursing meeting but keep in mind that there were two years when coursing was not undertaken in the mid 60’s (1965 & 1966). But that didn’t end our sport as some keen enthusiasts at Lang Lang Coursing Club developed a drag lure and we’re all glad they did. Because here we are on a picture perfect. We ordered it and we got it.
The Waterloo Cup has been conducted firstly at Sunbury, Diggers Rest and believe it or not Moonee Valley, it’s also been the Australasian Waterloo Cup, the Australian Waterloo Cup and in more recent times our Waterloo Cup is the Victorian Waterloo Cup. In some cases, one was conducted in New South Wales and one in Victoria.
This season has been a solid season for coursing with good nominations across our two coursing clubs conducting our meetings. For our 12 meetings we’ve received a total of 1132 nominations for 103 events with an average per meeting of 94. Our volunteers have ensured every meeting went to plan and for their efforts we are very grateful. Where would we be without them?
The Victorian Waterloo Cup for season 2025 was taken out by Brian Fothergill’s ALSTON who has coursed extremely well for the entire season. He defeated Michael Bewley’s Bank Robber in the final.
VICTORIAN WATERLOO CUP (Event 1) _ Sponsored by the Cranbourne Greyhound Racing Club
Today Alston’s winning times were 6.61/16.51 in the Quarter Final with his win over Emma Scott’s Levi Design (these two greyhounds were both at the top of the Coursing Greyhound of the Year ladder. In Alston’s Semi Final win over Scott Gnarly he ran 6.65/ 16.56, in his final he ran 6.70/16.70. Michael was new to coursing and in his acceptance for runner he has indicated he’ll be back next year. Bank Robber’s times today were 6.71/16.9 and, 6.69/16.81.
WATERLOO PLATE (Event 2)
The Waterloo Plate is an event that commence last week for those greyhounds run out in the first round of the Waterloo Cup. This final was taken out by Leonie Dalton’s Distant, handled by someone who knows a thing or two about coursing in Colin Dalton. The Runner up was Brand Sands’ Yeah You handled by Aaron Cambell.
WATERLOO PURSE (Event 3)
The Waterloo Purse is an event that commence last week for those greyhounds run out in the second round of the Waterloo Cup. This final turned out to be a Campbell affair with Shima Ballad for Alan Campbell defeating Paw Waldo for Aaron Campbell. Winning time was 6.76/17.04.
THE MEADOWS ALL AGED (Event 4)
Donald Rhodes’ Short Straw Trev showed that he’s still got the goods with run in the final of 6.70/16.91 to defeat Murray Collyer’s Super Tone. These two dogs have coursing in successive season.
SANDOWN GREYHOUND RACING CLUB MAIDEN DOG (Event 5)
John Paraskevas’ Thirty Seconds ran 678/17.09 in the final to defeat Steven Collyer’s Super Max who made his coursing debut. Thirty Seconds made his debut in the Waterloo Cup.
THANK YOU, PETER CRAIG MAIDEN BITCH, (Event 6)
In this event we saw two first time coursers make it to the final with Geoff Howell’s Field of Angels running 6.86/17.31 to defeat Danielle Smith’s Pepperoni. Whilst Geoff is no newcomer to coursing, Danielle and her father are. Hope they come back next year.
THANK YOU, MURRAY COLLYER (Event 7)
One of our younger competitors in the meeting saw So Glamorous (Jan 2024) for Michael Bewley take out this event in the time of 6.82/17.25, this little girl got better each course and her times showed this. She defeated Donald Rhodes’ Greta’s Gold.
THANK YOU, SUE JOLLY PUPPY DOG (Event 8)
Donald Rhodes’ Nambrok Nick had coursed well last week in the Waterloo Cup being defeated in the third round. He is a puppy by coursing standards and he took on Taylor Thornton’s Take Aim. Nambrok Nick ‘s winning time was 6.78/16.99.
THANK YOU, HEATHER VILLINGER MIXED PUPPY (Event 9)
Murray Collyer’s Vista Vampire raised the flag in the final with a time of 6.72/16.89 with a win over Chris Armstrong’s Fred the Fox. Chris is another we hope to see in the 2026 season.
There ends the Victorian coursing season for 2025. Keep in mind our awards night which is to wards the end of January and is conducted at Sandown Greyhound Racing Club. With some retirees leaving the NCAV executive and Lang Lang committee, we need people to step forward to keep the wheels oiled and running smoothly.
Finally, thank you to all those owners and trainers who had greyhounds compete at our meetings and made our season such a success. Thank you to the volunteers at both Lang Lang Coursing Club and Longwood Coursing Club. A huge thank you to our sponsors, most racing clubs assist us on one way or another. Plus, there are many other sponsors that give us a helping hand for the Runs of the Day. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
