By Chase Editor Pat McLeod

Dale Cartwright, one of the most powerful and hard-working advocates for greyhound racing in the Sunshine State, has agreed to another term (three years) as a Racing Queensland Board member.

Cartwright, who has been involved in the sport since he was a teenager and as an official since about 2010, said there was no chance that he would be reducing his commitments to the sport he loves.

I want to keep going because greyhound racing has been part of my life since I was a teenager and it will be part of my life until the day I die,” he said.

“So, if you are passionate about something, you live and breathe your passion. That is why I keep doing it.

“I have been involved in greyhound administration since I was elected to the Brisbane Greyhound Club committee.

“What excites me most about the future of greyhound racing is the participants. They have finally got confidence, not just for the next two or five years, but for much longer than that.

“That was one of the aims when I first came onto the board, to bring more confidence into the industry and take away the doubt … ‘should we breed a litter’, ‘should we look at our breeding lines for the next 20 years’, ‘do we need a bigger property’, ‘should we build a few more kennels’, those sorts of things.

“There is a lot of positivity now. There is progress. In life I like to achieve things. I like to grow as a person and I get a lot of enjoyment out of greyhound racing.

“And I go by the basics. When I first came onto the board, my main focus was to go out and listen to people, build their confidence.

“I still do that, years later. I return people’s phone calls. I return their emails. That is what people want and deserve.”

Racing Qld CEO Brendan Parnell said it was fitting that Cartwright would continue to be a part of an exciting time for greyhound racing in the state.

“It is an exciting time and an exciting outlook, with certainty around major projects, but a really commercial outlook and with a board that supports that direction,” he said.

“There have been some challenging years and then a resurgence in all three codes of racing, in particular greyhound racing.

“I see the positives in what Dale has done in a number of the things. Being part of the board that navigated through some of the more challenging financial periods for racing in Queensland. Being part of an organisation that worked to engage the participants more closely, as a member of the Albion Park Club.

“Dale is a strong voice on the national stage for greyhounds and that is really important, to make sure we are represented.

“Dale has a great ability to mingle with everyone from the battling participant right through to the most powerful politician.”