The Pledger brings Galaxy back to life at Capalaba

By Jordan Gerrans

Following the successful running of the 2026 Capalaba Cup on Sunday, club officials believe a newly introduced feature series will also shine a spotlight on grass straight track racing next month.

Idea's Girl from the Casey Dargusch kennel won the prized Group 2 Capalaba Cup from the eight alley in 19.56 seconds.

As the dust settles on the Capalaba Cup of 2026, the hierarchy at the Capalaba Greyhound Racing Club think The Pledger, which is set to be run for the first time in November, will be a key inclusion to the Sunshine State’s greyhound racing calendar.

The Pledger will be modelled on the old Tweed Galaxy, which was a popular feature race many years ago.

Capalaba Greyhound Racing Club Chairman George Clegg has worked in conjunction with the Tweed Heads Coursing Club and Racing Queensland to bring the new series to life.

“It is interesting,” Clegg said.

“On one day I was sitting talking to a journalist and we were chatting and he said, what a shame there is no longer a Galaxy race at the Tweed club.

“I went to my first Tweed Galaxy in 1975 and I've been to a number of them, it was a great draw card.

“We were chatting and said, it's a shame we couldn't put it on here at Capalaba.

“I spoke to RQ and they committed quite a significant amount of money to it.

“The club matched it. I went and had lunch with Rod Collins and Steve McGrath from the Tweed club and on a handshake, we finalised it. So, it's happening.

“So, we're going to have, I think it's received a tremendous amount of publicity and generated a lot of excitement amongst participants. So, I'm expecting it's going to be a massive series.”

The Pledger will be run at Capalaba for fourth and fifth grade chasers, culminating in the Final on Sunday, 15 November 2026.

The series gets underway with heats on Wednesday, 11 November, before the qualifiers return to Capalaba for the $45,000 Final four days later.

There’s also an additional $10,000 bonus on offer to any greyhound that wins both their heat and the Final.

Capalaba Greyhound Racing Club Secretary Erin Cameron described The Pledger as a ‘fantastic’ new series.

“It's a massive race for fourths and fifth grades,” she said.

“It goes from Wednesday to Sunday, which is a different concept for us, which is exciting.

“We don't know yet, but we do hope that it's a series that we can continue in the future.”

The naming of the new series is a nod to respected former Queensland greyhound administrator Harry Pledger, who was involved at Beenleigh, Capalaba and Tweed Heads, among other clubs, over his tenure in the sport.

The late Pledger was instrumental in the implementation of the former Galaxy race at the old Tweed club.

“The old Tweed Heads Galaxy, they used to have the heats on the Saturday and the Final on the Monday,” Clegg said.

“So, we're duplicating that. I approached Tweed Coursing Club and asked whether I could use the word Galaxy in promoting this.

"And, they thought for a while and said, we'd like to get involved with this.

“So, it's now transpired that we have a race Final worth $45,000, total race prizemoney, plus they've kicked in another $10,000 bonus if a heat winner wins the Final.

“So, it's a combined effort, Racing Queensland, Capalaba matches the prize money and Tweed Coursing Club.”

Clegg anticipates the event will be well supported by Queensland trainers, as well as some over the border in New South Wales, and is keen for the club to build on it in 2027 and beyond.

“I think given the fact that we're targeting a different population of dogs, we're targeting the fourth and fifth grade dogs, it will be a hit,” he said.

“The open and top-grade dogs, they get plenty of opportunity.

“But, this is a chance for the ordinary trainer with dogs that aren't of that calibre to race for massive prizemoney.

“I think that's what's going to be the big draw card. With regards to The Pledger, I think this has been promoted as a one-off.

“However, if it is successful, which we all expect it will be, watch out for next year. It'll be bigger and better.”