Townsville Greyhounds eyeing off Group 1 event

By Andrew Smith

Adding another weekly meeting and hosting a Group 1 race within the next five years – those are the main goals that Townsville Greyhound Club President Michael Fusco has set his sights on.

And with greyhound racing flying in the North Queensland city, he is confident the club has the standing to attract some of the big names from down south for a top-level event.

The local stalwart took home the Outstanding Contribution Award at last Friday night’s Queensland Greyhound Awards at The W Brisbane.

The 56-year old has been involved in the greyhound caper as a trainer since 1991, and a part of the Townsville committee for around a decade.

With new RQ Board Member Gary Heath stepping down from the role last year, it was Fusco who took on the top job.

For his years of service on and off the track, he was a deserving recipient of the trophy at this year’s ceremony.

“It was a great honour - I really feel that we're appreciated, because we do a lot of work, especially in the regional tracks,” Fusco said.

“It takes a lot of unpaid man hours to put together some of these meetings - the roles around the track are mainly putting staff together and just making sure everybody's around.

“I also mow the lawns and I'm a qualified starter and it’s just generally making sure the meeting works.

“I've been on the committee a long time, and we've never had the support like we now have from Racing Queensland, it's been really good.

“We've had a lot of stones thrown at us in the last 12 months, and we all stick together, I think we're going fairly good.”

Flooding and a new rail installation saw the Townsville Greyhound Racing Club out of action for periods in 2025.

But Fusco said greyhound racing in the north continued to go from strength to strength with participant numbers continuing to grow.

He believes the foundation is there for the Group 2 Townsville Cup to receive a boost in both prize money and Group status, along with an expanded weekly program at the Townsville Showgrounds.

“There's a massive amount of dogs in North Queensland…there's about 45 maidens about to start in the next couple of weeks,” Fusco said.

“The days of getting the 30 dogs in a kennel have gone- the kennel numbers are in their 70s, 60s and 50s now, so it’s flying up north, the greyhound racing.

“I would really like to see us run a Group 1 in the next three to five years, and have that prize money up to $125,000.

"The likes of Tommy Tzouvelis, Matty Heilbronn, the Bretts - they've been there, and they know that we put a good carnival together.

“I think if we work together with Racing Queensland, and get a little bit more prize money for the sprint and the long-distance race, we might get a better influx of dogs.

“Trying to get the two race meetings a week with the 14 races, we're working on that right now, and that's the plan.”

Heath stepped down from the president’s role in 2026 after almost two decades in the job.

After taking home the Outstanding Contribution Award himself last year, the RQ Board member paid tribute to Fusco when handing over this year’s crown.

“It was definitely a good feeling to have Michael win that award - he's done so much for me in my time and if I didn't have Michael Fusco on my committee, I wouldn't have been able to do the things that I've done,” Heath said.

“The countless hours of voluntary stuff that he does…he will get on a ride-on mower and mow for three-four hours every week, and it's all voluntary.

“I think he's at the track more times than what he is at home, so he definitely deserved to be acknowledged for this award.

“There’s so many volunteers in the clubs, and I was the president for 18 years and I've had so many volunteers in that time that are unrecognised that are probably deserving of this award as well.”

An expanded program and an increase in prizemoney would be warmly welcomed by the local industry, none more so than Townsville premiership-winning trainer Bobbie-Jean Chaffey.

The trainer claimed the title for the second straight year with over 150 wins to her name in consecutive seasons.

Chaffey has already posted 47 wins so far this season with a three-peat firmly in her sights.

“It might be - we don't expect it, but if it comes, we're happy with it,” Chaffey said.

“Anything can happen in dog racing - we've had times where we've had a good run, and we've had times where we haven't had winner at all, so we don't expect anything and we just take it as it comes.

“We've had a hard year with all the floods, and then the track closures, plus time off over New Years and we’ve had a lot of retirements as well.

“We didn't think we would make it, but we've had quite a few good dogs come in to play as well which helps…it’s made the all the sacrifices worth it.

“The Wave dogs, Pika and Maple, were good last year and there’s a couple of new ones that are still working out Townsville…we're hoping that they're going to step up over the 498 metres, and be contenders for the Townsville Cup.

“Smooth Blast and Ascend Kalamia, we’re hoping on them, plus we've got our puppies that we bred last year that are coming in, so we're hoping something comes from them.”

The other club accolade for the evening was awarded to Southpaw McGraw as the Townsville Greyhound of the Year.

The black dog posted eight wins and 23 placings from his 40 starts in the 2025 season.

Trainer Heath Ardle said it was a just reward for the hard work to bring Southpaw McGraw up to a high level.

“We had a few issues when we first purchased him and worked on them,” Ardle said.

“I think the dog, once he got to know me and trust me, he just went ahead in leaps and bounds.

“He’s a little bit slow out of the boxes, but down the back he just makes up ground, and is a nice hard trier, so can't ask for much more really.

“I'm hoping to maybe take him down to Rockhampton and give him a few more looks down there.

“Steven Scott took him down there for a few weeks while I was away over Christmas, and he ran second in the Christmas Cup without many looks there, so will take him back down and see how we go.”

Click here for the full list of winners from the 2025 Queensland Greyhound Awards.