Australian greyhound racing’s richest race, The Phoenix, will be held a week earlier in 2025, in one of a number of key changes to the 2025-26 Victorian greyhound racing calendar.
The Meadows will host their premier event on Saturday 13 December this year supported by heats of the Silver Chief to be conducted on the same night.
Australia’s only Group 1 race held on a country track, the Sale Cup, is also on the move, with the traditional Boxing Day meeting now to be held on Saturday 3 January 2026.
Several changes to other feature events have been made after consultation with Clubs and Greyhound Clubs Australia as coordinators of the Australian Group Race Calendar.
- The Maturity Classic and The Fireball finals held at The Meadows, move back one week to Saturday 26 July to avoid a clash with the Queensland Winter Carnival.
- Heats of the Ron Hawkswell Cup – formerly the TopCat Video Cup – at The Meadows (Saturday 6 September) and the final of the Sportsbet Healesville Cup (Sunday 14 September) have moved back a week due to the Nationals in Brisbane being held on Saturday 30 August this year.
- The Laurels series at Sandown moves from December to November, with the final to be run on the same night as the Shootout on Friday 14 November.
- The Sportsbet Warragul Cup final will move from its traditional early January slot to Friday 6 February, to accommodate the Sale Cup shift.
- The Sportsbet Horsham Cup heats will move from a Friday to Tuesday in a move designed to optimise nominations for the final to be held on Saturday 7 March.
- The Sportsbet Geelong Gold Cup series moves back one week with the final to be held on Friday 17 April to avoid a clash with the Golden Easter Egg at Wentworth Park.