New chief’s a sure bet

By Paul Pickering
GREG Miller’s earliest memory of greyhound racing at Sandown Park is jumping the fence as a 14-year-old to avoid the price of admission.
He’d hitchhike his way down Springvale Road from his Blackburn home and wage what little cash he had on his best bets of the day.
Win and he’d catch the train home, lose and he was back to thumbing a lift.
These days Miller doesn’t condone that sort of scallywag behaviour, because, as of next Monday he’ll be running the joint.
The former North Melbourne Football Club chief executive and Richmond football director was appointed as the new chief executive of Sandown Greyhound Racing Club on Monday.
Miller’s vast experience in sports administration aside, it may seem a strange appointment, but a closer look reveals the 57-year-old’s lifelong passion for the dishlickers.
“It’s probably the only other sport (than footy) in my life that I’ve been interested in and know something about,” he said this week. I’ve been a fan and follower since my very young days. My father had greyhounds when I was a little kid and when I got old enough I owned quite a few myself.”
Miller had some serious success in the early 1980s, racing 49 city winners in four states during his best season.
His involvement with greyhound racing waned as footy increasingly took over, but the passion has returned in recent years via a few dogs he has owned with Richmond star and reigning Coleman medallist Jack Riewoldt.
Miller remains involved with footy as a board member with the Flying Start management company owned by Ricky Nixon, and will continue there in a mentoring role.
But his ears certainly pricked up when the Sandown position was advertised after incumbent Matt Corby accepted a role with Greyhound Racing South Australia.
“When the opportunity came up I jumped at it,” Miller said.“I’ve long admired the board at Sandown and thought what a cohesive and organised group they were and what a good show they put on.”
The club has just invested $3 million on upgrading the Henry Harrison Grandstand, so Miller arrives at an exciting time.
And SGRV chairman Geoff Dawson says the club is “ecstatic about having someone of Greg’s profile join our team”.
Footy and greyhound racing have long been regarded as hobbies of the working man, and Miller is keen to develop the link between his two beloved sports.
“The turnover in greyhound racing has doubled in the last 10 years, and that’s a credit to everyone involved – they’ve done a fantastic job,” he said.
“My first role will be to see where I can utilise the contacts I’ve made over the years to continue to work on the profile of greyhound racing at Sandown.”
The third Solo Melbourne Cup prelude series will be run tonight (Thursday) at Sandown Park, before resuming on 14 October.
Next month’s racing will also include the lead-up to the Sir John Dillon Memorial on 28 October, while the Melbourne Cup final will be run on Thursday, 18 November