Chasing Dreams: A History of Greyhound Racing in Victoria
Australian History Social History Victorian Local History Animal Sports Sports & Leisure Studies Gambling & Wagering History Zoology & Animal Welfare Antiquarian & Collectible Sports
Chasing Dreams: A History of Greyhound Racing in Victoria is the only comprehensive hardcover chronicle of Australia’s fastest canine sport, tracing the track-side drama from the first electric lure at Melbourne’s Richmond course in 1927 to today’s multimillion-dollar TAB industry. Tim Haslett spent five years interviewing trainers, stewards and generations of owners to capture the gritty, humorous and sometimes heartbreaking stories that never made the form guides—like the night a brindle bitch called “Lady June” accidentally started a race with a litter of pups in tow and still won. Illustrated with rare archival photos, race-day programs and track diagrams, this oversized textbook-quality volume doubles as a serious reference for historians and a nostalgic keepsake for anyone who ever stood on the rails at Sandown or the Meadows.
Collectors prize the first-edition dust-jacketed hardcover because it was printed in a short Melbourne University Press run that sold out within months; clean, tight copies in very good condition now change hands for double the original retail price. Every chapter is footnoted with dates, bloodlines and stake money, making it indispensable for pedigree researchers, sporting-memorabilia dealers and greyhound welfare advocates charting the evolution of track safety standards. Whether you’re a young adult curious about how a working-class pastime became a billion-dollar business, or a baby-boomer who remembers the roar of the mechanical hare at Olympic Park, this book delivers the authentic soundtrack of Victoria’s night-time economy.
Beyond the stats, Haslett celebrates the dogs themselves—champions like “Zoom Top” and “Highly Blessed” whose portraits are preserved in high-resolution plates worthy of framing. The volume sits equally well on a coffee table or a university syllabus, offering a uniquely Australian lens on leisure, gambling regulation, animal husbandry and urban development. In short, Chasing Dreams is the definitive social history that turns greyhound racing into a compelling mirror of twentieth-century Victoria, and a must-have for collectors of Australian sporting, animal or local-history titles.
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