Rocket Queen - GRNZ Statement

The following is GRNZ’s response to media queries regarding the euthanasia of Rocket Queen due to a racing incident on Friday at Addington Raceway.

She was impacted by another greyhound during a race and fell and unfortunately fractured her front leg. She was assessed by the Oncourse Veterinarian who concluded that the most humane outcome given the injury was euthanasia. Sadly such incidents do occur across all racing codes. GRNZ is saddened by this and extends our sympathies to Rocket Queen’s connections Christine Mitchell and Warren Smith.

This is the first greyhound euthanasia from a racing incident since May 16. In the 2023/24 season (finishing 31 July) there were nine such euthanasias and four sudden deaths on raceday from 35,923 total starters. Rocket Queen is the first for the 24/25 season.

GRNZ continues to work incredibly hard to reduce the number of raceday euthanasias. Along with measures implemented around track standards and diagnostics, another measure introduced in recent years is the Rehabilitation to Rehoming Programme. Under this programme, greyhounds who sustain career-ending raceday injuries (but are given a good prognosis by an independent veterinarian) are rehabilitated back to full health at GRNZ’s cost before being rehomed.

Highlighting the continued progress the industry is making in this area, there were in excess of 60 raceday euthanasias in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 racing seasons.