Linda Jones won the
Greyhound Trainer of the Year but it was fellow trainer
John McGee Sr. that once again hit the headlines, with a controversy regarding the
trainer's championship to be held at
Hove. McGee qualified for the top six Trainers' Championship by virtue of finishing fifth in the 2000 standings but was upset at the fact that John Mullins was allowed to take the place of his mother
Linda Mullins. John Mullins had taken control of the kennels following Linda's retirement but an angry John McGee stated "I read that it was an unanimous decision" referring to the announcement made by the Professional Greyhound Trainers' Association (PGTA), "but unanimous by who? "They should have asked the five other trainers who have qualified what they thought, not just changed the rules because they wanted John Mullins in." The anger was brought on by the fact that he had been denied an invitation to run in the 1988 championship after taking over the kennel from Fred Wiseman, who led the 1987 standings. "I was head man to Fred Wiseman, but everyone knew I was doing the dogs and we won everything that year". The Championship went ahead and was won by
Charlie Lister but the controversy surrounding McGee continued, when later in the year he had a positive urine sample taken from Apple Rambler at
Wimbledon. The NGRC once again withdrew his licence and he was told that no further application would be considered until January 2003.[10][11]
Tracks
Advanced plans by the
Greyhound Racing Association to open a 2,000 seater stadium at Fazakerley in the north of Liverpool failed to materialise following opposition from residents. Liverpool had lost greyhound racing in 1973 despite having four prominent profitable tracks at one stage.[12]
Castleford Whitwood Stadium held its final meeting in February; it had existed in spells as a licensed and independent track since 1938.[13]
News
Trainer
Graham Holland left
Oxford to join Hove and was replaced by Nick Colton. Carly Philpott took out her first licence following in the footsteps of her father Paul Philpott and Maxine Locke joined
Catford. Leading owner Len Ponder moved all of his greyhounds from trainer Ray Peacock and transferred them to
Seamus Cahill.[14]
Owen McKenna son of
Ger McKenna decided to return to Ireland to train mainly for David Miles (responsible for the Reactabond prefix) in Ballyclerihan. Despite having a contract at Wimbledon, McKenna had expressed concerns over lack of races and poor prize money.[14]
Competitions
The
Nick Savva trained Sonic Flight won a strong
Scottish Greyhound Derby, a competition that saw the shock disqualification in the first round of prolific open race winner El Boss, who was subsequently retired.[11] Sonic Flight also won the
Select Stakes and
Irish Laurels.
The veteran Palace Issue now trained by John Mullins retired after failing to win the
Golden Jacket but winning 69 of his 111 races and picking up £65,000 in prize money.[11]
No Can Waltz enjoyed a good year, the Linda Jones trained white and brindle had finished second in the
Arc final and third in the Scottish Derby and won the
Test before a good
Grand Prix campaign at
Walthamstow Stadium came to an end losing to Slick Tom. He finished the year by reaching the
St Leger final, he was arguably the best stayer ahead of Solid Magic who claimed the first
Cesarewitch to be held at Oxford and the
Olympic title.[11][14]
Ireland
2001 was a vintage year for stars, in the United Kingdom Rapid Ranger had dominated the news and Sonic Flight had a great year. In Ireland Cool Performance won the Derby but he was overshadowed by two of the finalists, Late Late Show and Droopys Kewell. Late Late Show owned by
Pat Kenny and duly named after the popular show
The Late Late Show became the nation's favourite greyhound.[15] The black dog won the
Easter Cup and
Shelbourne 600, in addition to finishing runner-up in the Derby and being a finalist in the
Champion Stakes. Droopys Kewell won three major events; the
National Produce,
St Leger and Champion Stakes. In any other year Droopys Kewell would have been
Irish Greyhound of the Year but the accolade went to Late Late Show.
Linda Jones won the
Greyhound Trainer of the Year but it was fellow trainer
John McGee Sr. that once again hit the headlines, with a controversy regarding the
trainer's championship to be held at
Hove. McGee qualified for the top six Trainers' Championship by virtue of finishing fifth in the 2000 standings but was upset at the fact that John Mullins was allowed to take the place of his mother
Linda Mullins. John Mullins had taken control of the kennels following Linda's retirement but an angry John McGee stated "I read that it was an unanimous decision" referring to the announcement made by the Professional Greyhound Trainers' Association (PGTA), "but unanimous by who? "They should have asked the five other trainers who have qualified what they thought, not just changed the rules because they wanted John Mullins in." The anger was brought on by the fact that he had been denied an invitation to run in the 1988 championship after taking over the kennel from Fred Wiseman, who led the 1987 standings. "I was head man to Fred Wiseman, but everyone knew I was doing the dogs and we won everything that year". The Championship went ahead and was won by
Charlie Lister but the controversy surrounding McGee continued, when later in the year he had a positive urine sample taken from Apple Rambler at
Wimbledon. The NGRC once again withdrew his licence and he was told that no further application would be considered until January 2003.[10][11]
Tracks
Advanced plans by the
Greyhound Racing Association to open a 2,000 seater stadium at Fazakerley in the north of Liverpool failed to materialise following opposition from residents. Liverpool had lost greyhound racing in 1973 despite having four prominent profitable tracks at one stage.[12]
Castleford Whitwood Stadium held its final meeting in February; it had existed in spells as a licensed and independent track since 1938.[13]
News
Trainer
Graham Holland left
Oxford to join Hove and was replaced by Nick Colton. Carly Philpott took out her first licence following in the footsteps of her father Paul Philpott and Maxine Locke joined
Catford. Leading owner Len Ponder moved all of his greyhounds from trainer Ray Peacock and transferred them to
Seamus Cahill.[14]
Owen McKenna son of
Ger McKenna decided to return to Ireland to train mainly for David Miles (responsible for the Reactabond prefix) in Ballyclerihan. Despite having a contract at Wimbledon, McKenna had expressed concerns over lack of races and poor prize money.[14]
Competitions
The
Nick Savva trained Sonic Flight won a strong
Scottish Greyhound Derby, a competition that saw the shock disqualification in the first round of prolific open race winner El Boss, who was subsequently retired.[11] Sonic Flight also won the
Select Stakes and
Irish Laurels.
The veteran Palace Issue now trained by John Mullins retired after failing to win the
Golden Jacket but winning 69 of his 111 races and picking up £65,000 in prize money.[11]
No Can Waltz enjoyed a good year, the Linda Jones trained white and brindle had finished second in the
Arc final and third in the Scottish Derby and won the
Test before a good
Grand Prix campaign at
Walthamstow Stadium came to an end losing to Slick Tom. He finished the year by reaching the
St Leger final, he was arguably the best stayer ahead of Solid Magic who claimed the first
Cesarewitch to be held at Oxford and the
Olympic title.[11][14]
Ireland
2001 was a vintage year for stars, in the United Kingdom Rapid Ranger had dominated the news and Sonic Flight had a great year. In Ireland Cool Performance won the Derby but he was overshadowed by two of the finalists, Late Late Show and Droopys Kewell. Late Late Show owned by
Pat Kenny and duly named after the popular show
The Late Late Show became the nation's favourite greyhound.[15] The black dog won the
Easter Cup and
Shelbourne 600, in addition to finishing runner-up in the Derby and being a finalist in the
Champion Stakes. Droopys Kewell won three major events; the
National Produce,
St Leger and Champion Stakes. In any other year Droopys Kewell would have been
Irish Greyhound of the Year but the accolade went to Late Late Show.