Zammits reflect on ‘dream year’ as Jay Is Jay takes out Queensland’s top award

By Andrew Smith

Selena and Mick Zammit enjoyed plenty of success with Jay Is Jay in 2023, but being crowned the TAB Queensland Greyhound of the Year was the true ‘icing on the cake.’

The superstar chaser received the state’s top honour at Friday night’s awards ceremony at Victoria Park, beating out fellow finalists Bear’s Bullet and Magistrate.

Following a season that saw the dog notch 15 wins from 26 starts, including a history-making win in the Million Dollar Chase, the husband-and-wife team had almost run out of superlatives to describe the past year.

“Unbelievable, exciting, fantastic, rewarding,” Mick said when asked how he was feeling moments after the win.

“It’s definitely a worthy reward – he had a good year, a lot of other dogs won big races and we are honoured to win it.”

“It’s been the best year ever - it’s a dream year with a dog,” Selena added.

The Zammit clan was on hand to accept the award, including Selena’s mother and Jay is Jay owner Lillian Jones.

The Zammit-Jones family and the dog they call “Mick” at home also claimed the Top Simbi award, awarded to a greyhound, person, organisation or event that creates positive publicity for the industry.

It was undoubtedly year to savour with Jay Is Jay notching an Albion Park track record, and wins in the Group 2 Queensland Derby, Group 3 Queensland Flame and Listed Origin Greyhound Series Match Race.

Second placings in Group 1 races the Gold Bullion and Topgun also added to his bulging resume.

“I think it just perfectly culminates the whole year into the big bang of winning the Greyhound of the Year,” Selena said.

“He did so much on the track throughout the year which was great and then to get this honour, it’s the icing on the cake really - for the dog and for us.”

The Zammits will now look ahead to the coming months after ruling Jay Is Jay out of the Group 1 Golden Easter Egg series at Wentworth Park, following a fourth-placed finish at Albion Park on Thursday night.

“We have had a little bit of a setback at the moment but we’ll see how that goes and we hope to have him right for the Queensland Winter Greyhound Racing Carnival as well,” Mick said.

Racing Queensland CEO Jason Scott said Jay Is Jay had set Queensland greyhound racing alight in 2023 and was a deserving winner of the industry’s top accolade.

“I don’t think too many people came here tonight expecting anyone other than Jay Is Jay to win,” Scott said.

“The year that he’s had, it was absolutely phenomenal.

“I was lucky enough to be at Wentworth Park for the Million Dollar Chase in which Jay Is Jay was the first Queensland dog to be successful in, and it was a great result for the Zammits.

“We’ve had an amazing year in greyhounds this year, and we’re on the precipice of huge change with greyhounds moving out of Albion Park after several decades to The Q.

“Construction is well underway, with our first trials and racing expected to be in November this year.”

The future of the training ranks is also in good hands with Hayley Wooler receiving the Young Achiever Award for 2023.

The Townsville-based trainer amassed 64 wins and 164 placings from 624 starts, including a feature win with Smiling Walnut in the Robert Olsen Memorial.

“I’m speechless to be honest, I didn’t think I would end up winning this,” Wooler said.

“The biggest achievement has probably been establishing myself as a trainer, following through my Mum and Dad’s footsteps.

“Since Dad stepped away from training to breed a litter of pups, I took over the dogs and just went from there.

“They’ve just come through in leaps and bounds, the whole lot of them.

“I’m just hoping to continue the way I’m going, win a couple of races here and there each week and just having fun with it all.”

In total, Racing Queensland announced 26 award winners at Victoria Park, acknowledging the remarkable achievements of greyhound racing participants across the state throughout 2023. 

Click here to see the full list of winners.