Martin White: Give Hobby Trainers A Chance

Martin White is a man who has been successful in most aspects of life which he has turned his hand to.  An intelligent man whose words need listening to and in most cases acting upon.  A man who loves greyhounds , loves the sport and whose ideas can help the sport progress or maybe the word is actually regress to a position it once found itself.  A native of county Newry Martin has had dogs since the age of 16 with his ever growing passion for the breed financed through a successful career in the meat trade business – writes Mark Pierrepont.

In 1982 Martin landed the Coursing Oaks at Clonmel with his fawn bitch Back Again but he always held an equal love for the track game and hit the headlines here in the UK with amongst many others Wise Thought the 2008 winner of the Betfred Eclipse at Nottingham and the Westmead Hawk Puppy Cup at Henlow in the same year.  Going on to finish third in the final of the 2009 Blue Square Greyhound Derby at Wimbledon after sensational second , third and quarter final stage victories he later added the Boylesports Champion Stakes Consolation Final around Shelbourne Park to his CV.

Assisted by one of the leading trainers of her generation in her own right Carly Philpott this was a formidable team who added the 2010 Scottish Derby to the honours list courtesy of the fantastic white and brindle greyhound Nambisco who later that year ensured that the Eclipse trophy landed back in their hands with stunning victories in both semi final and final around the Colwick Park circuit.

Martin is as professional as they come but still likes to think of himself as a hobby trainer in the sport solely for the love of the dogs and the game.  He has never been one for wanting to go down the route of training large numbers of greyhounds for the graded scene and that is born not from a lack of respect and recognition that side of the sport is needed but from a pursuit of the greatest prizes that the sport can offer.

Martin said “I have been fortunate that through my success in business I’ve been able to afford to invest in a sport I love.  When I was younger back home in Ireland I always managed to get my hands on a decent dog or two but back then I’d say it was more about having the right connections and the larger availability of decent greyhounds.

“Try to buy a good dog now and you’re talking telephone numbers and that’s if they’re available at all because less and less people want to let them go.  Along with my good friend Barney Mooney we’ve always tried to target quality over quantity in an effort to win big races on big nights but that’s not to say there isn’t a place for the lesser dogs or simply those pups needing time to improve.

“That to me is where a huge problem for owner, trainer breeders such as myself now lays in the sport.  I enjoy breeding a litter or two but try as you might you will never get a full litter of pups ready to go straight into the open scene.  I personally don’t want to move those pups on even if it’s just a temporary solution while they get experience.

“They’ve been with me since birth and I like to do the job to my own standards from start to finish.  Some tracks are excellent with giving you help to get marked up and I must pay recognition to the likes of Nottingham , Perry Barr and Monmore who help in that way and with trials.  Beyond that though when it comes to racing is when it gets difficult.

“It’s no good having young pups constantly making the numbers up or not even getting a race at all and it would be good to see the GBGB and tracks coming up with an initiative that would allow British Bred greyhounds like these being allowed to grade on at tracks whilst still in the care of people like myself.

“I understand the risk factor involved with simply allowing one man with one dog to turn up and grade at a track.  Whether we like it or not the tracks do have a responsibility to the betting industry but these tracks also have a responsibility to the people like myself who are trying to keep the sport and British breeding alive.

“My plea would be that something can be put in place for those of us who don’t want to take on a large kennel but do want to be able to give our home bred pups a chance to progress through the grades before making a decision on whether we sell or whether we rehome.  If things don’t change then people like myself will unfortunately be faced with no option but to to walk away.

“We pay everything towards these dogs that others do via registrations, rehoming bonds and the like so please lets also have a chance to see what these youngsters can do in races which they can be competitive before we’re forced into making a decision on whether to move them on or not”.