Diamond and Julie take top dog and bitch titles at Irish awards
BRILLIANT Irish Derby champion Bockos Diamond was predictably crowned Dog of the Year at the National Greyhound Racing Awards at Shelbourne Park on Sunday with fellow finalist and Irish Oaks dead-heater A Lucky Julie taking the Bitch award.
Bockos Diamond has a career record of 16 wins in 17 races with his only defeat coming on his second start at Kilkenny when runner-up to Johnny Linehan's Broadstrand Syd, who himself was crowned Sprinter of the Year after his Irish Sprint Cup victory at Dundalk.
Robert Gleeson's Droopys Kathleen, who preceded Bockos Diamond's Shelbourne Park achievement in breaking the 550 yards track record, by setting new figures for the 525 yards course was Future Star, while now-retired Tuono Charlie was just as obvious a winner of Stayer of the Year as Bockos Diamond was for the dog title after winning all 17 six-bend starts for Sharon Hunt including the Corn Cuchulainn.
There were also presentations to four previously-announced human award winners including legendary breeder/trainer Brendan Matthews' induction into the Hall Of Fame.
Brendan Matthews, whose Townview Kennels' motto is ‘The Home of Champions’ is the Hall of Fame inductee
Still in secondary school now, Kerry’s Daniel O’Rahilly won the Con and Annie Kirby Memorial as a 17-year-old
Brendan Rogers was heavily involved with promotion of retired greyhounds for GACI, an Italian re-homing organisation
Ted Collins dedicated a lifetime to greyhound care as a much-respected Shelbourne Park vet until his retirement in 2020