January 2023

JANUARY 2023

IRGT DOGS & THEIR TALES PODCAST JOHN PARKER

GRI

John Parker, from Greyhound Pets of America, joins Rory to chat about his work in welcoming Irish Greyhounds and helping them join their new families across the United States of America.

IRGT DOGS & THEIR TALES PODCAST NOREEN O'SHEA

GRI

Rory speaks to Kerry woman now living in Dublin, Noreen O’Shea. Noreen adopted a greyhound called Ziggy after her 16 year old lurcher died. Noreen is a family friend of a greyhound trainer, Liam Dowling, and she had expressed her interest in rehoming a greyhound. After a lengthy weight, she got a call that they had a greyhound for rehoming and that was the start of a beautiful story.

IRGT DOGS & THEIR TALES PODCAST FIONNUALA MOLONEY CAREY

GRI

This week we chat to Fionnuala from Timaru kennels who runs the IRGT greyhound care centre and foster centre. Fionnuala describes to us a day in the life of a retired racing greyhound and all of the steps in between before they are rehomed.

ROSE SETS THE 600 STANDARD AS BAILEY GETS BACK TO WINNING WAYS

Peter Farrell

Rarely does a weekend slide without a valuable sweepstake getting underway at Limerick and last night was no different as the opening round heats of the Talking Dogs A3/A4 600 got underway.

REALLY GOOD RACING AT CURRAHEEN PARK

The Two Wheel Training Open 575 semi-finals produced two fantastic winners in Curraheen Park on Saturday night.

BRAVE LAD A FUTURE STAR

Peter Farrell

Patrick Guilfoyle may have retired two of his star trackers in Good Cody and Explosive Boy last year, but he may have found a worthy replacement as he sent out Brave Lad to win his debut race in the most impressive fashion at Thurles Greyhound Stadium last night.

MICHAEL BOURKE

The greyhound industry lost another great supporter in recent days with the news of the death of Mick Bourke, Barnane, Tipperary.

MICHAEL GAFFNEY RIP

The death occurred over the weekend of Michael (Mackie) Gaffney, Pearse Park, Waterford.

A WELCOME RETURN TO RACING AT LIFFORD AND THE NORTH WEST

Ian Fortune

It’s truly wonderful to read that Lifford will be reopening in the very near future.

PIPER COMES OUT TO PLAY IN RURAL SEMIS AT CLONMEL

Peter Farrell

Last night saw an action packed weekend come to a close at Clonmel Greyhound Stadium and the semi finals of the Rural Kennels Open Unraced 525 produced further evidence that the young talent in the Country is at its peak as Pied Piper became the latest to express his huge engine.

PLENTY TO REPORT AT SHELBOURNE

Ian Fortune

There was no sweepstake action at Shelbourne Park on Saturday night with the Gold Cup due to start next weekend but the racing was certainly enthralling with numerous fine displays.

MARISSA AND MOFO RECOGNISED IN GALWAY SPORTS STAR AWARDS

Ian Fortune

We reported a while back how Raha Mofo had been recognised for her incredible achievements in 2022 with a Medtronic Galway Sports Stars Award. Well, the presentation took place last weekend at a gala banquet in the Galway Bay Hotel.

PAUL POWERS INTO KNOCKLONG DECIDER AT LIMERICK

Peter Farrell

The semi finals of the Knocklong Schooling Track A1/A2 525 took centre stage at Limerick Greyhound Stadium last night and it was Strictly Paul who overcame the extremely foggy conditions to set the standard once again ahead of the €2,200 decider in six days time.

QUALITY ACTION AT CLONMEL AS SWEEPSTAKES HOT UP AHEAD OF BUMPER WEEK

Peter Farrell

Clonmel hosted their second of three race meetings last night and there were no shortage of big performances as a number of sweepstakes hotted up.

DUBLIN CUP DELIVERS AGAIN

Ian Fortune

The stage is set for a tremendous finish to the A2 Dublin Cup after Friday’s semi-finals were won in fine style.

WHISPA POWERS HOME TO MAKE IT A BALLYMAC 1-2-3 IN KINGDOM DERBY DECIDER

A very special lady, BALLYMAC WHISPA delivered a powerful and stunning performance to win the final of the €7,000 to the winner Eric Browne Memorial Kingdom Derby at Tralee Greyhound Stadium on Friday night.

PADDY KEHOE STEPS IN TO BACK GOLD CUP

Ian Fortune

The Gold Cup gets underway at Shelbourne Park next weekend and it will carry a new sponsor’s title following the news that Paddy Kehoe has stepped into a back the early season showpiece.

TALKING DOGS ON THURSDAY EPISODE 118: LIAM DOWLING AND TOMMY CAFFERY

GRI

This week we have two special guests joining us! Our first is leading greyhound trainer, Liam Dowling from Ballymac Kennels.

A SMALL WORLD – A STORY OF TWO PAT DOBBS

Ian Fortune

Greyhound racing throws up nuggets every now and again. And this is a gem.

DUNNE FAMILY BACK TO SPONSOR MCCALMONT CUP

Ian Fortune

Kilkenny track released a statement yesterday afternoon confirming the continued sponsorship of the McCalmont Cup by the Dunne Family of Frightful Flash Kennels fame.

BUCKLEY RECONFIRMS HE HAS NO INTENTION OF JOURNEYING TO TOWCESTER

Ian Fortune

It certainly hasn’t been a secret in recent weeks and months but Pat Buckley is not going to be travelling to Towcester for the English Derby.

THE 1930's - A GOLDEN ERA OF RACING IN WATERFORD

Fintan Walsh of the Munster Express (Waterford)

Fintan Walsh, of the Munster Express (Waterford), has been busy looking back at what he calls "a terrific decade" for the sport of greyhound racing in the Southeast.

VETERANS STAKE AT SHELBOURNE

Ian Fortune

Friday’s week will see the start of the Old Stagers 525, a twelve-dog competition for greyhounds born in January ’19 or before.

CURRAHEEN PARK SUPPORTERS CLUB RACE

Barry Drake

The Curraheen Park Supporters Club was launched over the last week or so at the Cork circuit and on Saturday night, they put on a Curraheen Park Supporters Club race.

PLENTY OF GOOD BUSINESS AT CURRAHEEN PARK SALES

Barry Drake

There were a number of smart performances in Curraheen Park on Saturday morning as the sales returned to the Cork circuit.

VIDEO: 2022 IRISH GREYHOUND RACING HIGHLIGHTS PART 3

GRI

We are taking you through just some of the racing highlights of 2022, looking back on some of the big events of the year

DERBY CHAMP TRIALS BACK WHILE KOBE TAKES OFF

Ian Fortune

Born Warrior didn’t exactly set the world alight in his first official spin since capture the Boylesports Derby last September.

RACER ONCE AGAIN ASSERTS IN RURAL KENNELS UNRACED

Peter Farrell

The second round heats of the Rural Kennels Open Unraced 525 took place last night at Clonmel Greyhound Stadium and for the second consecutive week, Droopys Racer stole the show with another polished performance.

TOOLMAKER’S WILDE DISPLAY AT SHELBOURNE

Ian Fortune

A week after producing a flawless trap to line success in the semis, Toolmaker Wilde had to do it the hard way to land the €2,000 on offer in the final of the Upcoming Events Open 550 at Shelbourne Park on Saturday night.

PERFECTION FROM PAUL IN KNOCKLONG SECOND ROUND ACTION AT LIMERICK

Peter Farrell

The second round heats of the Knocklong Schooling Track A1/A2 525 was the main attraction at Limerick Greyhound Stadium last night and it was Strictly Paul who laid down a serious marker with an emphatic performance in heat one.

MORE SUPERB DISPLAYS IN DUBLIN CUP

Ian Fortune

The A2/A3 Dublin Cup was always going to see the emergence of some very useful trackers and, as expected, many of those competitors will be saying goodbye to A2 company in the near future after some superb displays in Friday’s second round.

SUNSHINE DREAM GOES QUICKEST IN SEMI FINALS OF THE ERIC BROWNE MEMORIAL KINGDOM DERBY

Barry Drake

SUNSHINE DREAM went quickest in the semi-finals of the Eric Browne Memorial Kingdom Derby in Tralee on Friday night.

TALKING DOGS ON THURSDAY EPISODE 117: BERKIE BROWNE

This week were heading down south to the Kingdom to chat to the one and only Berkie Browne, a widely known bookmaker from Tralee.

JET-POWERED PRICELESS HAS RUN HIS FINAL RACE

Ian Fortune

There have been some very notable retirements in recent weeks and months and the latest came in recent days with Paul Hennessy confirming that in the incredibly versatile and talented Priceless Jet will be putting his feet up.

NOTHING SERENE ABOUT SENSATIONAL ACE

Ian Fortune

The news was confirmed in recent days that Serene Ace has run his final race after finishing lame at the Winter Racing Festival last month and will now head straight to stud.

VIDEO: 2022 IRISH GREYHOUND RACING HIGHLIGHTS PART 2

We are taking you through just some of the racing highlights of 2022, looking back on some of the big events of the year.

LAUNCH OF THE CURRAHEEN PARK SUPPORTERS CLUB

Barry Drake

A great crowd turned out at Curraheen Park on Saturday night for the launch of the Curraheen Park Supporters Club.

SYD TAKES THE HEADLINES AT SHELBOURNE

Ian Fortune

It may have been cold and the racing low-key but there were some wonderful performances and a number of thrilling finishes at Shelbourne Park on Saturday night including the feature, the final of the RCETS A1 Dual Distance, as Churchtown Syd took charge late to deny Robbies Bear.

MEDUZA STARS IN KNOCKLONG RE-RUN AT LIMERICK

Peter Farrell

It was a quiet affair at Limerick Greyhound Stadium last night but the highlight of the evening was a brilliant victory for Meduza, who landed the re-run of heat two in the Knocklong Schooling Track A1/A2 525.

STAGE SETS A STRONG STANDARD IN DUBLIN CUP

Ian Fortune

Highview Stage was the undoubted star of the opening round of the A2/A3 Dublin Cup at Shelbourne Park on Friday night, dominating throughout in his heat to come home a mile clear in a rapid 28.51.

RACER REVS HIS ENGINE IN RURAL OPENER AT CLONMEL

Peter Farrell

The opening round heats of the Rural Kennels Unraced 525 got underway at Clonmel Greyhound Stadium last night and early indications are that it’s once again packed with incredible young talent, headed on the night by the ultra-impressive Droopys Racer.