Who will be announced as 2024/25 NZ Greyhound of the Year?
Peter Fenemor • September 19th, 2025 3:50 PM • 4 min read
Who will receive the greyhound code’s ultimate accolade during Saturday’s annual GRNZ awards evening in Wellington?
The naming of the 2024/25 New Zealand Greyhound of the Year (GOTY) presents an intriguing list of contenders, with numerous outstanding greyhounds having placed their paws into contention.
Before the grand announcement is made, the winners of the various racing categories will be revealed. One of those classy category winners will be announced as the 2024/25 GOTY.
A compelling case can be built for the named finalists in all categories.
The Sprinter of the Year features four outstanding explosive short course sprinters.
Three of the straight-out speed merchants were conditioned initially by Dave and Jean Fahey, then since 1 January by Dave Fahey and Katie Wyllie.
Opawa Marsh and Everest Sky emphatically won the sprinter’s Group 1 double, the 295m Galaxy Sprint and the 318m Railway Sprint. Both regularly won open class sprint races.
Their kennelmate Jerry Cola made the Addington 295m track record his own, lowering the record on five occasions, finishing the season credited with his sizzling 16.42 sprint.
Lion’s Den rounds off the sprinters finalists and the 2024/25 Waikato GOTY enjoyed a successful season for the northern training sisters Lisa and Tracey Craik. His biggest win was delivered in the Gr. 2 Angus Wright Memorial over 375m.
The Middle-Distance contenders feature two finalists from the Fahey kennels.
One Hot Bandit stylishly won the Gr. 1 New Zealand Cup, and remarkably he won all 15 of the Addington 525m races he contested during the season. He won $130,949 in stake earnings.
Jerry Cola displayed his versatility by winning the Gr. 1 New Zealand Derby and he also added the Gr. 2 North Island Challenge Stakes to his CV.
Xisco Bale was the only greyhound to win two Group 1 races during the season, with his conditioner Craig Roberts mentoring him to annex the Waterloo Cup and the South Island Champs.
The Lisa Cole prepared outstanding greyhound He’s All Go added the Wanganui Cup to his list of previous Group 1 wins.
The staying canine athletes produced numerous enthralling staying performances.
Chief Dribble was awarded the 2023/24 NZ Stayer title last season and the Matt Roberts conditioned stayer is a solid prospect of defending his title after winning all seven of his Addington 732m assignments during the season, including the Gr. 1 NZ Stayers Cup.
The grand old lady from the staying ranks Grande Vue Ace continued to deliver quality staying races. Included was her pair of Gr. 1 and Gr. 2 Wanganui 755m staying victories for her owner/trainer Bob Pringle.
Johnny Football was a lethal stayer over the Manawatu 660m and Cambridge 650m distances, winning a combined 20 races at those venues. Lisa Cole also applied the finishing touches to Johnny Football for his Gr. 2 Nancy Cobain Memorial win over 755m.
It’s a testament to the durability of Jerry Cola that he takes up his unprecedented third finalist position being a contender for the NZ Bred GOTY. Combining sprinting with middle-distance racing saw him being the victor in 24 of the 34 races he contested during the season.
Grande Vue Ace makes a second finalist appearance in this category and her consistency throughout the season can be measured by her 10 wins and 18 minor placings from the 37 races that she lined up in.
Opawa Marsh was also a versatile chaser as aside from his strong sprints he also delivered competitive 457m races which saw him concluding the season with 20 wins and 17 minor placings. All 44 of the races he contested were against open class opposition.
More Magic quickly established his credentials as a classy greyhound in his debut season which saw him quickly rushing through the grades.
Lisa Cole expertly guided him to 14 wins and 14 minors from the 36 races he contested, which included his stylish Gr. 1 527m Auckland Cup victory.
Lisa Cole will receive the 2024/25 NZ Trainer of the Year trophy following the 772 occasions that her team members were required to salute the judge following race wins.
12 of those wins came at Group race level, while she provided 1,250 minor placegetters. Cole’s kennel runners accumulated $3,118,135 in stake earnings.
What a fascinating battle the 2024/25 NZ Trainers Strike Rate award turned into! The title was only decided during the very final meeting for the season.
It was a season of two halves for the Fahey kennels. Dave and Jean trained together until 31 December, finishing with what turned out to be a title winning UDR score of 0.4897.
From 1 January it was Dave Fahey training with the Entain Greyhound Excellence winner Katie Wyllie. They led going into that final meeting; however, they completed the season with their tidy 0.4883 UDR figure.
Other awards will be made to the connections of the leading NZ based Sire, with the finalists being American Warrior, Big Time Paddy, Federal Morgan and Thrilling Boris. The finalists for the leading NZ Dam are Isavana, Know State and Opawa Tab.
Also to be announced will be the TAB Run of the Year, with the finalists being Goldstar Ginny, Little Dodo, Opawa Marsh and Paw Bradley.
Each month during the season a youth industry participant was selected as the GRNZ Board winner of a $500 grant. An overall winner from the 12 monthly winners will be announced on Saturday with the successful person receiving a $5,000 grant.
Yes, it all adds up to an intriguing evening celebrating greyhound excellence from the 2024/25 racing season.
