By Floyd Amphlett
It was with great sadness that I heard of the passing of former ICC President Matt Bruton.
It was privilege to have known Matt over 30 years. He phoned to introduce himself when I had the breeding column in The Sporting Life, and I will confess to being a bit awestruck even to be acknowledged by such a shrewd and respected dog man
Journalist John Martin once noted ‘Matt would have almost a whiff of the aristocracy about him‘ and it was plain to see what he meant. Quietly spoken, a little reserved, but with a dry sense of humour and huge charm. It was impossible to dislike Matt Bruton.
Matt took over my breeding column on The Sporting Press when I left to set up Ireland’s Greyhounds Weekly, but there was never an issue between us. In fact, we would often swap phone calls to exchange information for our respective breeding columns.
Matt was steeped in breeding, his most famous brood was probably Lemon Soda, and his opinion was always worth heeding. Matt knew where all the bodies were buried, and who had buried them. The Irish Derby winner whose litter were swapped at birth, the back-dated litters, the doping controversies, but any confidences were solid between trusted fellow scribblers.
Irish greyhound racing, coursing and breeding is immensely poorer for his loss. My thoughts are with his family.
