A rags to riches story with a special Clarence Valley connection wrote itself into local sporting folklore in less than 20 seconds on June 21 at the Grafton Greyhound Racing Club when speed sensation Badger’s Beast set a new race record and dominated his rivals to win the $40000 Ladbrokes Thunderbolt, the richest short course race in the world over 350m.

Owned by Grafton’s Dave Grundy, who purchased the son of Beast Unleashed and Isla’s Style for less than $3000 as a pup, Badger’s Beast once again demonstrated his extraordinary strength and stamina in the feature event on the program to extend his career statistics to 23 wins and 10 minor placings from 36 race starts and take his prizemoney to $99205.

Beginning swiftly from box 3, the blue fawn dog backed up impressive wins in his respective Thunderbolt heat and semi-final, both run on the track in recent weeks, and quickly pounced on the lead after the well-tried favourite Flash Jet missed the start and was shuffled back through the field after striking interference inside the opening 100m.

While Bala Ace, My Monroe, and the winner’s littermate, the locally trained Divorce Source, all tried valiantly to go with him, Badger’s Beast opened up a huge margin as the field rounded the home turn, scorching the track and stopping the clock at 19.58 seconds, decimating the previous race record of 19.74 seconds held by 2023 winner Vamoose.

Amidst the cheering and celebrating which promptly followed the race, Mr Grundy said he was absolutely stoked to win the Ladbrokes Thunderbolt with Badger’s Beast.

Describing him during a post-race interview as a dog who has had lots of little knock backs, Mr Grundy said it meant a lot to win the feature race in front of a local crowd with Badger’s Beast.

“It’s unreal,” he said.

“Everyone would have heard me screaming (for him).

“We all knew how good the dog is, and we’re just over the moon.”

Trained by Peter Lagogiane at Llandilo, Badger’s Beast defeated Bala Ace by 6.75 lengths.

Divorce Source, trained at Coutts Crossing by Gary Smith, finished third.

First run in 2022 and initially hosted by the Grafton Greyhound Racing Club, the 2025 edition of the Ladbrokes Thunderbolt once again drew a large crowd to the popular local sporting venue over the weekend.

The Grafton Greyhound Racing Club will host their next race meeting on Sunday, June 29.

This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 25 June 2025.