2019 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 94th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and the 93rd year of greyhound racing in Ireland.
The year marked an end of an era when the 94-year-old company the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) or more recently the GRA Acquisition came to an end.
Roll of honour Major Winners Award Name of Winner2019 English Greyhound Derby Priceless Blake (Paul Hennessy)2019 Irish Greyhound Derby Lenson Bocko (Graham Holland)Greyhound Trainer of the Year Mark WallisUK Greyhound of the Year Ice On Fire (James Fenwick)Irish Greyhound of the Year Killmacdonagh (Kieran Lynch)
Gain Nutrition GTA Trainers Championship, Sheffield (6 Apr) Pos Name of Trainer Points1st Angela Harrison 492nd Patrick Janssens 433rd Kevin Hutton 414th Mark Wallis 37.55th Phil Simmonds 376th John Mullins 16.5
Summary All news was overshadowed by the demise of the once-great Greyhound Racing Association, more recently known as the GRA and then Clive Feltham's GRA Acquisition. The company had been declining since 2005, following the sale from Wembley plc to Risk Capital Partners and Galliard Homes and the inevitable resulted when the final two leases held at Belle Vue Stadium and Perry Barr Stadium were sold to the Arena Racing Company (ARC) in October. The company had brought racing to the United Kingdom in 1925 and had been the primary promoter for 70 years.
Positive news was announced in January when major bookmakers agreed to pay a voluntary payment into the British Greyhound Racing Fund from their internet businesses. The agreement was signed by Ladbrokes Coral, William Hill, Betfred, bet365, Paddy Power Betfair and Sky Betting & Gaming and was expected to generate an extra £3 million for the fund, which goes directly towards greyhound welfare connected to Greyhound Board of Great Britain tracks in the UK. The move was welcomed by the industry who had been asking the bookmakers for assistance towards welfare funding for some time.
The year ended badly with the news that housing planning permission for Belle Vue had been passed on 19 December.
News The media rights war raged on between SIS and ARC. Contracts had been signed by the tracks but some trainers were moving to tracks with SIS contracts that offered a better deal. The industry continued to wait to see long term consequences of the media rights battle.
The media rights battle had already affected the open race schedule, the ARC owned Sunderland scrapped the William Hill Grand Prix and vastly reduced the prize money for the Classic. Another consequence of the media rights battle was the change to the racing schedule at tracks, which now generally consisted of daytime racing and a Saturday night fixture.
There was a double retirement during June with both the 2017 Greyhound of the Year King Elvis and 2017 Scottish Derby champion Dorotas Woo Hoo finishing their careers. 2018 English Greyhound Derby champion Dorotas Wildcat was also retired after a gallant attempt to defend his title in the summer.
Ireland The new English Derby champion Priceless Blake returned to action against a high class field in the Dundalk International and finished runner-up to Irish Oaks champion Killmacdonagh in the €20,000 one-off race, the latter had recently broke two track records.
Drumbo Park re-opened on 13 July under the management of 'Run With Passion Ltd'. The track opened on the back of a news program by Raidió Teilifís Éireann billed as an exposé on excess breeding within Irish racing. The program drew criticism of breeder practices in Ireland but the industry also criticised RTE and its failure to include coursing, international sales, independent tracks etc. in the report. The Irish Greyhound Board condemned the breeder practices shown in the program and vowed to take action under the new Greyhound Racing Ireland Act 2019. Additionally the Bord na gCon was renamed the Rásaíocht Con Éireann (Greyhound Racing Ireland). During October 2019 the IGB released the latest statistics appertaining to welfare under the Strategic Plan 2018–2022.
Leading journalist and broadcaster Michael Fortune died.
The Patrick Guilfoyle trained Skywalker Logan won the Cesarewitch and the Corn Cuchulainn; the white and black dog also had a great English Derby campaign and was making a great case for being voted Irish Greyhound of the Year. The other contenders would be Killmacdonagh and the two Derby champions Lenson Bocko and Priceless Blake. The winner was Killmacdonagh, Lenson Bocko was dog of the year and Skywalker Logan was surprisingly not event named stayer of the year losing out to Redzer Ardfert.
Competitions Angela Harrison won her first Trainers Championship defeating the in form Patrick Janssens and former champions Kevin Hutton and Mark Wallis. Harrison only took over the kennels from partner Jimmy Wright in 2017. Wright was integral in helping Harrison win the title, as were her two powerhouses Droopys Expert and Droopys Verve who both produced strong wins. The pair then immediately headed for the Scottish Derby where Verve recorded the fastest heat win and Expert progressed to the semi-finals behind Boylesports Xtra. The prolific King Turbo also won a heat but of the four only Droopys Verve qualified for the final by producing the fastest 29.02 win in the semi-finals. However the final went to Irish entry Braveheart Bobby from Cooneen Jack with Droopys Verve failing to recover from a poor start taking third.
Trafalgar Cup champion King Sheeran deservedly won the 73rd British Bred Two-Year-Old Produce Stakes and led home his two brothers King Cash and King Dylan for a litter 1–2–3; Liz McNair trained the first four home because the trio's half sister Queen Cher finished fourth. The racing year belonged to Ireland meaning that the selection of a UK Greyhound of the Year would not be straight forward but Ice on Fire stood out after gaining four major wins in the Puppy Classic, All England Cup and the Eclipse and the Laurels. He was duly awarded the title during the following January awards.
Mark Wallis ended the year with 1120 open race points and therefore retaining his Greyhound Trainer of the Year title and extending his record to eleven titles.
Principal UK finals
Ladbrokes Golden Jacket, Crayford (23 Feb, 714m, £17,500)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Stardom 1 6-4f 45.27 Heather Dimmock2nd Towcester Story 2 9-2 45.29 Brendan Matthews3rd Goldies Hotspur 5 5-1 45.59 Patrick Janssens4th Headford Maurice 4 25-1 45.69 Kevin Boon5th Shotgun Bullet 6 5-2 45.70 Derek Knight6th Savana Winner 3 9-2 46.02 Diane Henry
Cearnsport Grand National, Central Park (28 April, 480mH, £8,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Caislean Fifi 610-11f 29.30Seamus Cahill2nd Emiles Eske 3 12-1 29.68Jim Reynolds3rd Castlehill Wally 1 20-1 29.76Barry O'Sullivan4th Turnhouse Jet 5 15-2 29.80Ricky Holloway5th Mane Mane 4 1-1 30.95Ernest Gaskin Jr.N/R Barricane Jack 2 Jason Foster
Racing Post GTV Scottish Derby, Shawfield (4 May, 480m, £20,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Braveheart Bobby 33-128.88 Pat Buckley2nd Cooneen Jack 18-1 29.04James Fenwick3rd Droopys Verve 51-1f29.14 Angela Harrison4th Droopys Nadal 63-1 29.22 Angela Harrison5th Greenwell Jean 216-1 29.28 Pat Flaherty6th Jaguar Jack 47-1 29.32 Graham Rankin
Coral TV Trophy, Romford (13 Sep, 925m, £10,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Bumblebee Bullet 314-159.26Mark Wallis2nd Aayamza Breeze 17-259.29 Mark Wallis3rd Riverside Honey 64-5f 59.33 Graham Holland4thSavana Winner 45-259.51 Diane Henry5th Burgess Honey 512-159.59Anthony Gifkins6th Causeway Sergie 233-160.11Chris Akers
RPGTV East Anglian Derby, Yarmouth (19 Sep, 462m, £15,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Roxholme Nidge 3 4-11f 27.89 Hayley Keightley2nd Dower Product 4 20-128.09 Phil Simmonds3rd Tree Top Danny 6 16-1 28.16 Eric Cantillon4thMary Goodnight 5 7-1 28.22 Sandra Clayton5th Seaglass Tiger1 7-2 28.23 Patrick Janssens6thRockburst Dutch 2 33-1 28.38 Eric Cantillon
RPGTV St Leger, Perry Barr (16 Nov, 710m, £15,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Redzer Ardfert 1 5-4f43.12Brendan Maunsell 2nd Antigua Fire 57-443.38 Mark Wallis 3rd Avastorm 4 20-1 43.42 Mark Wallis 4th Summer Savvy 6 20-1 44.04 Paul Sallis 5th Brave Ark 3 12-1 44.12 Matt Dartnall6th Skilful Sandie 2 7-2 00.00 Patrick Janssens
Oaks, Swindon (14 Dec, 476m, £15,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Bull Run Byte 1 7-4 28.29 Kevin Hutton2nd Touchdown Erin 4 16-1 28.52 Belinda Green3rd Sonic Spur 5 5-4f 28.56 Chris Akers4th Ballyamc Saga 3 12-1 28.63 Kim Billingham5th Queen Franklin 6 3-1 28. 99 Liz McNair 6th Ballymac Cloud 2 25-1 29.08 Kim Billingham
Principal Irish finals
Ladbrokes Easter Cup, Shelbourne (9 Mar, 550y, €25,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Clona Blaze 6 5-2f 29.37 Graham Holland2nd Clonbrien Prince 2 7-229.39Graham Holland3rd Droopys Davy 5 7-2 29.60Pat Buckley4th Gurteen Feather 1 4-1 29.70David Murray5th Braveheart Bobby 3 9-1 29.81Darren McCoy6th Lenson Blinder 4 7-2 29.88Graham Holland
Kirby Memorial Stakes, Limerick (20 Apr, 525y, €80,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Toolmaker Josie 4 6-128.37Robert Gleeson2nd Herecomesdahoney 17-4 28.44Graham Holland3rd Antigua Rum 64-128.58Tom O'Neill4th Ballymac Tas 36-4f28.65Liam Dowling5th Deadly Storm 28-129.07Michael J O'DonovanN/R Ballymac Syd 5 Liam Dowling
Sporting Press Oaks, Shelbourne (1 Jun, 525y, €25,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1stKillmacdonagh 14-128.17Kieran Lynch2nd No Recollection46-128.52Oliver Bray3rd Clona Dream210-128.66Graham Holland4thBallymac Arminta34-6f28.67Liam Dowling5th Priceless Verona68-128.68 Paul Hennessy6th Luminous Milan525-128.85Denis Lennon
Larry O'Rourke National Produce, Clonmel (9 Jun, 525y, €20,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Grangeview Ten 35-228.62Patrick Guilfoyle2nd Ardfert Rooster64-128.79Timmy Carmody3rd Riverside Leo41-1f29.04Graham Holland4th Rockburst Dutch55-129.11Graham Holland5th Mucky Brae12-129.25Michael J O'Donovan6th Herecomesdahoney 23-129.26Graham Holland
Dundalk International, Dundalk (12 Jul, 550y, €20,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Killmacdonagh 55-229.42Kieran Lynch2nd Priceless Blake 45-129.75Paul Hennessy3rd Ballymac Arminta 15-4f29.87Liam Dowling4th Skywalker Logan 65-130.05Patrick Guilfoyle5th Gurteen Feather 216-130.24David Murray6th Ballyanne Sim 37-130.31Mark Robinson
Boylesports Champion Stakes, Shelbourne (27 July, 550y, €20,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Ballymac Arminta 54-5f29.31Liam Dowling2nd Run Happy 29-229.38Pat Buckley3rd Totos Park 67-129.62Graham Holland4th Wolfe 43-129.69Graham Holland5th Droopys Neymar 320-129.94Peter Sutcliffe6th Jaytee Sienna 114-130.29Paul Hennessy
Dublin Coach Juvenile Derby, Shelbourne (18 Oct, 525y, €22,500)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Broadstrand Bono 26-4f28.15John Linehan2nd Glenlara Ace16-128.32Liam Kirley3rd Deanridge Sirius39-228.43Ian Reilly4th Droopys Hunch65-2 28.53Martin Murt Leahy5th Newline Darn Hot56-128.57Robert Gleeson6th Ballymac Wisdom412-128.64Liam Dowling
Irish Laurels, Cork (19 Oct, 525y, €30,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Rockybay Foley 1 7-4f 28.57Kieran Lynch2nd Doona Buck 410-1 28.58Gerry Holian3rd Grangeview Ten 35-228.59Patrick Guilfoyle4th Ballyanne Sim 24-128.64Mark Robinson5th Clona Blaze 54-128.75Graham Holland6th Newinn Lester 63-128.89Graham Holland
Friends of Limerick Irish St Leger, Limerick (23 Nov, 550y, €30,000)PosName of Greyhound Trap SP Time Trainer1st Ballymac Anton 3 4-129.53 Liam Dowling2nd Lenson Austin 55-1 29.74Graham Holland3rd Wolfe 2 1-1f 29.88 Graham Holland4th Cash Is King 6 8-1 29.98 Brendan Maunsell5th Murts Boher 1 9-2 30.19Graham Holland6th Totos Park 4 16-1 30.37Graham Holland
UK Category 1 & 2 competitions