In the late 1990s he worked for leading thoroughbred trainer John Hawkes and one of John's duties was as the strapper of champion galloper Octagonal.

Octagonal - or Occy as racing fans often referred to him - won 10 Group 1 events during his illustrious career and John Smart was able to savour many of them in his time at Crown Lodge.

After returning to his first love of greyhound racing, John and his wife Julie have enjoyed some success along the way, but their career defining moment arrived on March 18 when their kennel star Showman Jack charged home to win the world's richest middle-distance race, the Country Classic at Dubbo's Dawson Park.

"This is unbelievable," said a jubilant John after Showman Jack's victory in the $125,000 to the winner event.

"This is what dreams are made of. It's like in the olden days when I was strapping Octagonal. It's unreal. He's my little Occy."

Showman Jack joined a very short but now growing list of winners, with Zipping Kyrgios having won the inaugural Country Classic in 2022.

It may be April Fools' Day, but make no mistake the Greyhounds As Pets team is headed to Wagga Wagga for an Adoption Day event on April 1.

The day will be held at Petbarn in Wagga, and there will be around 10 greyhounds available as pets on the day, with the dogs attending having a wide variety of personalities.

And since the winters in Wagga can be a little, let's say fresh, the Greyhounds As Pets team will be throwing in a free coat for every dog which is adopted.

The day runs between 9am and 2pm, and Greyhounds As Pets will have a number of volunteers and experts ready to answer any questions you may have about the dogs and the program.

And after Wagga it's off the Royal Easter Show beginning on April 6 where the team will again host their very popular stall.

Local country music star Jason Owen was a huge hit with the crowd at Dubbo on March 18. Jason performed a short set earlier during the meeting, and then had patrons up dancing after the last race on Country Classic night, receiving rave reviews from the large crowd.

For a number of years at major events, GRNSW have worked with local clubs to sign musical acts to perform, with the likes of the Hoodoo Gurus and Shannon Noll entertaining crowds at events in recent years.

Muswellbrook will have local band Hurricane Fall performing at their historic first TAB Meeting on April 16, with country music duo McAlister Kemp already booked to perform at the Ladbrokes 715 at The Gardens on May 6.

This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW.