SIS greyhound chief Brankley hails GRI 'clear strategic vision'
RICHARD BRANKLEY, head of greyhound operations for SIS, has heralded the "clear strategic vision" of Greyhound Racing Ireland after the two organisations extended their collaboration for a further three years through to end 2028, contrasting it to the situation pertaining in the UK.
Expanding further on the recent announcement, Brankley said: “GRI demonstrates clear strategic vision by driving betting revenue where opportunities exist but essentially maintaining a presence in each local community through weekly Friday/Saturday night racing.
"It understands that to maintain social licence you must have social presence - and this is where there is a clear divide between racing in the UK and Ireland, and those who operate the the tracks.
"With many tracks in Ireland still privately owned this is key to the long-term sustainability of racing.
"As such, SIS is delighted to have a full portfolio of tracks to call upon. By taking only one or two meetings per week from any single track and working with GRI to rotate meetings and taking a flexible approach to the number of races per meeting, the quality and competitiveness of racing has been excellent.
"Full field races are running at over 98% this year and the exposure given to Irish racing over recent years has cemented tracks as a familiar part of retail and online betting."
"The weekly Irish Focus round-up is the most popular feature on sisracing.tv and the availability of instant Irish results and replays on the site has been well received. We look forward to adding additional tracks to the schedule.”
The launch of the sisracing.tv website last year gave rise to a significant increase in Irish big-race coverage with SIS broadcasting nine major Irish final nights from June 2024 until the end of the year, including every race in every round of the BoyleSports Irish Derby at Shelbourne Park.
It was then announced that the figure would increase to 19 for the whole of 2025 with more than 40 competition-specific broadcasts in total - major Irish events from Shelbourne Park will feature on the next five Saturdays on SIS with coverage of the Corn Cuchulainn, Champion Stakes and Puppy Derby.
As a result, stars such as Irish Derby champion Bockos Diamond and runner-up Cheap Sandwiches were already household names in the UK when they travelled to Towcester to take in the English Derby.
SIS coverage of Irish greyhound racing is not just restricted to the main events and major tracks either.
Whether it be north, south, east and west, Dublin, Lifford, Youghal or Tralee, SIS has Ireland mapped, massively increasing the reach of the racing from tracks big and small.
