Greyhound Nation

Episode 35: Recorded February 23, 2023

"Our most western track...is a 14 hour drive from Sydney..."

Rob Macaulay on Broken Hill, one of the 30 community run Greyhound tracks in New South Wales

Show Notes

Rob Macaulay served as legal counsel for Greyhound Racing New South Wales (NSW) four years ago and immediately immersed himself in the sport of Australian Greyhound racing. When the opportunity presented itself, he applied to serve as Greyhound Racing NSW's Chief Executive Officer. As CEO, Rob leads the organization's racing and welfare initiatives in Australia's largest and most southwest state.

The Australian track system will, at first glance, appear very different from the American system. Tracks under Greyhound Racing NSW's umbrella of leadership are community clubs, similar to English football clubs. Rob speaks of the smallest and most remote tracks like the Broken Hill Greyhound Club in the same breath as the largest Greyhound racing tracks in Sydney. One gets the sense that there is a sense of community pride within this Australian Greyhound racing system.

Rob is very eager to share Australian racing Greyhounds with the world when they retire. Similar to the Irish Retired Greyhound Trust association with Greyhound Pets of America, Greyhound Racing NSW is piloting a similar adoption program for potential American Greyhound adopters. In 2023, Rob has a goal to introduce 120 Australian Greyhounds into the enthusiastic and welcoming arms of American adopters.

In this episode, John and Rob sit down to discuss the Australian racing Greyhound and the sport's present and future. The conversation covers the community centric track system in New South Wales, technical aspects of Australian races and racing surfaces, and the wagering and funding of the sport. They also cover the welfare and rehoming of Australian racing Greyhounds, including the emerging partnership with Greyhound Pets of America.

Links

Greyhound Racing New South Wales (Website)

Greyhounds as Pets (Website)

Greyhound Integrity and Welfare Commission (Website)

Broken Hill Greyhound Club (Facebook)

Greyhound Pets of America (Website)

Episode 34: Recorded January 15, 2023

"If you could bottle what I felt and sell it, I'd be a rich man…"

British racing Greyhound owner George Sell describes seeing his first Greyhoundk, Steeple Road Teddy, win a race

Show Notes

George Sell lives the life of a travel and real estate writer, business owner and "horse husband" in the south of England. His wife is an accomplished equestrian. They both love and own Whippets. He's also involved in a couple of racing Greyhound ownership syndicates.

Greyhound racing syndicates might raise an eyebrow for the unfamiliar, but they are fast becoming the best way for a fan of the breed to try their hand at owning a racer. George's first racing Greyhound -- Steeple Road Teddy -- was owned by a 10-member syndicate. When the Greyhound was having trouble, George enlisted a former Waterloo Cup coursing trainer to set things right.

Managing a racing syndicate is just one part of racing Greyhound ownership in Great Britain. Owners get to participate in Sundays at the kennel, visiting and playing with their Greyhounds, the trainer, and fellow owners. They also have to react to changes to the sport and its tracks since the COVID pandemic.

In this episode, George shares his experience as a racing Greyhound owner in the UK. Host John Parker discusses with George sourcing a potential winning Greyhound, finding the right trainer, and adapting to changes in Irish and British Greyhound racing.

Links

Macchiato (Website)

Americano (Website)

Fantalilly (Website)

Episode 33: Recorded November 19, 2022

"He had become the darling of the crowds in England...we're talking about crowds...of a hundred thousand people..."

Author Charlie Blanning on Mick the Miller, one of his "top five" Greyhound picks

Show Notes

Charlie Blanning and Gary Guccione are second to none when it comes to declaring the "top five" racing Greyhounds in the modern era. Charlie -- author of three Greyhound history books -- gravitates towards the finest English and Irish racers 20th century. Gary -- former Executive Director of the National Greyhound Association -- brings a distinctly American selection of Greyhounds to his "best of" list.

In this episode, host John Parker asks the question of both Charlie and Gary -- "Can you name five racing Greyhounds that stand out above all others?" Charlie and Gary deliver, with stories of Mick the Miller, Westy Whizzer and Westmead Hawk, just to name a few. Join us for a fine hour of Greyhound history, discussion of the sport of Greyhound racing, and news on Charlie's books.

Charlie's Top Five Racing Greyhounds

Westmead Hawk (Wikipedia)

Ballyregan Bob (Wikipedia)

Pigalle Wonder (Wikipedia)

Endless Gossip (Wikipedia)

Mick the Miller (Website)

Gary's Top Five Racing Greyhounds

Downing (Greyhound Hall of Fame)

Miss Whirl

Westy Whizzer

Real Huntsman (Greyhound Hall of Fame)

Traffic Officer (Website) and Flashy Sir

Links

The Greyhound and the Hare (Facebook)

Episode 32: Recorded October 18, 2022

“Training is not something you do to your dog but something that you do with your dog.”Lee Livingood on the importance of a dog owner’s investment in bettering their dog

Show Notes

Lee Livingood wanted to be a veterinarian as a child, but she settled on always having a dog in her home. During college, she adopted a mixed breed dog from a local shelter and discovered it suffered from severe separation anxiety. Lee helped find the right home for the dog, and the experience ignited her interest in and passion for canine behavior.

In 1991, Lee and her husband learned about retired racing Greyhounds. They adopted their first Greyhound shortly thereafter -- a 2 year old hound named Penny. At the time, her home in Pennsylvania was in the throes of a winter storm. She went out in the blizzard with her newly adopted Greyhound on lead, who promptly chased after a squirrel and left her face down in the snow.

She didn't know about Greyhound "prey drive" and the quickness and strength a Greyhound could exert in such a situation. The experience inspired her to write Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies -- the first book about racing Greyhound behavior and care after adoption. The book would become a mainstay in the Greyhound adoption community.

In this episode, host John Parker and Lee sit down to talk about her background in Greyhound behavior and training, as well as her experience in writing the book. They explore the nuances of publishing what would become a very popular reference in the Greyhound adoption community, Lee's involvement with that community, and the future of the American Greyhound breed.

Links

Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies (Amazon)Redfern Canines (Website)

Episode 31: Recorded August 28, 2022

"He definitely had a huge, big heart. He just had that will to win..."Irish Greyhound breeder and trainer Dolores Ruth, on training champion racing Greyhound, Razldazl Billy

Show Notes

Irish Greyhound breeder and trainer, Dolores Ruth, describes her 2006 Irish Greyhound Derby champion, Razldazl Billy, as an enigma. Clever. Superhuman. Named after Billy Flynn, a principal character from the musical, Chicago, Razldazl Billy seemingly put on a show wherever he raced.

Razldazl Billy's career is, to date, the pinnacle of Dolores' career in breeding and training, but he's not the only highlight. Dolores grew up in a racing Greyhound family. She recalls fond memories of feeding her father's Greyhounds Weetabix, milk and scrambled eggs and walking their family's Greyhounds in Dublin's Phoenix Park.

When her father became ill in her late teens, Dolores would take the reins of the family Greyhound business. In the early 1990s, she would come into her own as an independent Greyhound trainer. After Razldazl Billy won the Irish Greyhound Derby in 2006, she transitioned from trainer to breeder. The Razldazl bloodline continues to this day.

In this episode, host John Parker and Dolores explore not only Razldazl Billy's career, but some of the many other Greyhounds that have made a mark in the Irish racing Greyhound world. It's an entertaining exploration of some of the biggest Greyhound names in the sport and the breeder and trainer that helped share them with the world.

Links

Irish Greyhound Derby (Wikipedia)Razldazl Billy Race Career (Greyhound Racing Ireland)Razldazl Billy Pedigree (Greyhound Racing Ireland)

Episode 30: Recorded August 2, 2022

"I don't know how to describe heaven for a dog...it's hard for a lot of people to understand how much these Greyhounds love to run..."Dr. Rob Gillette on Auburn University veterinary students seeing Greyhounds run for the first time

Show Notes

Dr. Rob Gillette has been around working and sporting dogs his entire life. He was born in Great Bend, near Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas and grew up hunting with retrievers and bird dogs. Cheyenne Bottoms was also home to the first coursing meeting of the American Coursing Club in 1886. He didn't realize it at the time, but it was a sign of his future involvement in Greyhound sports medicine.

Dr. Gillette graduated from veterinary school at Kansas State University in 1988 and subsequently helped take care of Greyhounds at local dog tracks and with breeders in and around Kansas City and Abilene. After completing a postdoctoral in human biomechanics, he received a research grant from the Kansas Racing Commission to better understand how Greyhounds run and how to reduce their injuries. Dr. Gillette would continue to research Greyhound performance and consult on track design and surface composition on behalf of trainers and track owners.

In the late 1990s, Dr. Gillette began a 15 year career at Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine. There, he expanded his canine sports medicine research. His students had the opportunity to observe and learn from Greyhounds participating in what is now known as the Canine Performance Sciences program. His research would not only benefit the care of the Greyhound but serve the greater canine community as well.

In this episode, host John Parker discusses with Dr. Gillette his career as a veterinarian and researcher of Greyhounds, service dogs, and law enforcement and military K9s. They discuss how an understanding of the Greyhound's unique anatomy and athleticism better informs sports medicine for many breeds. Dr. Gillette also shares some of his current research activities and plans to develop the next generation of Greyhound savvy veterinarians.

Links

SportsVet.com (Website)SportsVet (Facebook)Athletic and Working Dog: Functional Anatomy and Biomechanics (Amazon.com)

Episode 29: Recorded June 26, 2022

"He said to me, 'Why don't you make it a personal record? Put more of yourself into it...'"Charlie Blanning, on the advice given to him while writing Twenty Two Waterloo Cups

Show Notes

Charlie Blanning's latest book -- Twenty Two Waterloo Cups -- is more than just another history of the famous English Greyhound coursing meeting. It also tells the story of the author's involvement in the Waterloo Cup as a correspondent for various coursing publications from 1981 to the end of the Cup in 2005. Charlie braved judges' horses, blowing gales and anti-coursing protestors to share the experience of the Cup with readers.

Twenty Two Waterloo Cups is Charlie's fifth book about Greyhounds and the sport of coursing. The book picks up the Waterloo Cup in the early 1980s after a hiatus of four years that put premier coursing meeting's future in jeopardy. Thankfully, supporters of the sport and the Cup's rich history came to the rescue and revived the coursing meeting for more than two decades. The book is dedicated to one of those key figures -- Bill Stedman, Treasurer at the time of the National Coursing Club.

In this episode, Charlie and host John Parker hold a "virtual launch" of Twenty Two Waterloo Cups with a discussion about the coursing meeting's history, the Greyhounds that made it famous, the people who organized the event, and the undercurrents of anti-coursing protests during the Cup's final years. Charlie shares his motivations for writing the book and how he went about publishing another entry in his growing library of Greyhound history.

Links

The Greyhound & the Hare (Facebook)Reservation Form for Twenty Two Waterloo Cups

Episode 28: Recorded February 15, 2022

"I literally grew up with Greyhounds..."Leslie Wootten, on her childhood at the Tucson Greyhound Park

Show Notes

Leslie Wootten's earliest memories of Greyhounds are from the Tucson Greyhound Park around 1953. Her father was hired as the plant superintendent at the race track, and her family lived in a house near the paddock on the track grounds. She heard the Greyhounds every night outside her bedroom window when there was racing.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Greyhound racing was the thing to do in Tucson. Leslie found herself at the paddock fence every night while her father worked and her mother mingled at the clubhouse. As she grew up and her family moved away from the track, she developed other interests. She would return to Greyhounds in her 30s.

With a college degree in writing, Leslie found herself revisiting her family's history in Greyhound racing. Her very first writing effort was the nomination of her grandfather -- James "Pop" Wootten -- into the Pioneers section of the Greyhound Hall of Fame. Gary Guccione, former executive director of the National Greyhound Association, later invited her to become a regular columnist for The Greyhound Review.

In 2007, Leslie would write Keefer: The People's Choice -- a book about breeder Keith Dillon's favorite Greyhound. Dillon felt that Keefer had an incredible personality from the moment of his birth in 1984. Keefer wowed the crowds at Derby Lane, becoming the first Greyhound ever featured in the Wall Street Journal. Leslie's book would explore this phenomenal Greyhound's career, based especially on her multi-part series about Dillon's life in Greyhound racing.

In this episode, John Parker sits down with Leslie to discuss her book and other writing about the Greyhound people and the Greyhound breed. They explore her family's rich heritage in Greyhound coursing and racing, her experiences in Abilene, Kansas, and the future of Greyhound racing and the Greyhound breed.

Links

Keefer: The People's Choice (Amazon)Greyhound Hall of FameNational Greyhound Association

Episode 27: Recorded January 8, 2022

"It was indescribable -- the elation -- but also a sadness -- things can't get better than this..."Jackie Teal, Greyhound coursing and racing trainer, on winning her first Waterloo Cup in 2002

Show Notes

At the age of ten, Jackie Teal really wanted a pony. Instead, she found herself helping a local businessman out with his Greyhounds. She would bathe and feed them, ride with them out to the local track, and fall asleep with them at the end of a day at the track. Little did she know that missing out on that pony would lead training two Waterloo Cup winners a career in Greyhound coursing and racing.

In her twenties, Jackie went to her first coursing meeting. She found the experience to be very different than the "bloodthirsty goings on" that she had expected. Coursing was truly a test of Greyhound skill, and the sport transcended social class in England like no other.

Jackie started training Greyhounds and would meet her husband, John, at a coursing meeting. Together, they would build a kennel of nearly 200 Greyhounds. They trained Greyhounds for both coursing and racing. Her Greyhounds competed in the Waterloo Cup, Irish coursing and racing, and British racing. As of 2022, her Greyhounds have been racing at the Sunderland Greyhound Stadium for 32 years.

In this episode, host John Parker and Jackie sit down to talk about her career as both a Greyhound coursing and racing trainer. Jackie shares some of her favorite Greyhound stories from the track and coursing meetings, including her two Waterloo Cup winners in 2002 and 2005.

Links

Sunderland Greyhound Stadium

Episode 26: Recorded December 16, 2021

“Why don’t you pick up the baton and write [about] the final years of the Waterloo cup?”Charlie Blanning on the inspiration for his next Greyhound history project

Show Notes

Charlie Blanning — respected Greyhound historian and regular guest on the Greyhound Nation podcast — has a new Greyhound history project in the works. In this episode, host John Parker and gets an exclusive preview of Charlie’s next book. Join the Nation for Charlie’s exclusive announcement!

Links

Please Mister: The Golden Age of Greyhound Racing (Facebook)Please Mister: The Golden Age of Greyhound Racing (Amazon UK)