The Ballarat Greyhounds, also known as Morshead Park, is a greyhound racing track located at Morshead Park, Sutton Street and Rubicon Street, Ballarat Central Victoria, Australia. Managed by the Ballarat Greyhound Racing Club (BGRC) and overseen by Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV). This track hosts events like the Ballarat Cup and offers races covering distances of 390, 450, 545 and 660 metres. Racing is conducted Monday and Wednesday and occasional Saturdays and includes Tabcorp betting facilities and video replays broadcast on and off course.
History The Ballarat Greyhound Racing Club was formed in 1935 and the original track was located at Broadway Park (the North Ballarat Sports Club today) in Creswick Road, adjoining the Ballarat Showgrounds. The track was opened on 11 March 1938 by councillor H J Wheeler.
Over a three-year period during the late 1970s a new racing complex was constructed at the present site at Morshead Park. The opening meeting was held on Saturday 23 December 1978 with the first race winner being Eddy Tornado trained by W R Dalton. The meeting included a match race (a two-runner race only, where two greyhounds are matched against each other) between Melbourne Cup winner Tangaloa and Sandown Park track record holder Darville's Flyer, won by the latter.
In 2012, Morshead Park underwent a significant facility upgrade costing $3.2 million. The upgrade was split between GRV ($1.7 million), the Coalition Government ($1.35 million) and the BGRC ($150,000) and included a major transformation of the grandstand and race track. The first meeting after the upgrade was held on Wednesday 3 October 2012.
Track distances Distance (m)Distance (ft)
Ballarat Cup Roll of Honour The Cup was first held in 1960 at Broadway Park over 496 yards. In 2020 the winner received $47,000 although prizes have been higher in the past.
Past winners YearWinner1960 Rebby Boy1961 Dalemee1962 Eerie Town1963 Alrarniv1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 Baytown's Son1969 My Gina1970 1971 Fawn Metal1972 Master Caleb1973 She's My Girl1974 Fawn Capri1975 Ben Boro1976 Ernie Diro1977 not held1978 not held1979 Nelson's Mate1980 Swift As Light1981 Johnny's Monaro1982 Satan's Shroud1983 Total Claim1984 Lady Lilly1985 Trisun1986 not held1987 Shining Chariot1988 Kepler1989 Hay Dinney1990 Welcome Stranger1991 Malawi's Prince1992 Wild Pirate1993 Dallas Duo1994 Tivoli Man1995 Malawi Law1996 King Of Talent1997 Young Darren1998 Lansley Bale1999 Tom's Legacy2000 Puff Daddy2001 Carlisle Jack2002 Knockabout Wok2003 Puzzle Prize2004 Whisky Assassin2005 Magic Trance2006 Witch Magic2007 Go Wild Jack2008 Vee Man Vane2009 Dyna Lachlan2010 Greta Bale2011 Up and Away 2012 Maverick Tiger2013 Ronin Izmir2014 Luca Neveelk2015 Shared Equity2016 Zambora Brockie2017 Aston Dee Bee2018 Aston Kimetto2019 Western Envoy2020 Yozo Bale2021 Ferdinand Boy2022 Compliance2023 Kelsey Bale2024 Explicit References