Sunderland celebrate Ruble and remember Harry
Sunderland racegoers were witness to an impressive victory by locally trained Untold Ruble in the ARC Puppy Trophy on Friday night, and remembered one of their own in their tribute to the late, owner, trainer, breeder and one-time track promoter, Harry Williams.
Untold Ruble was the ante post favourite for the Arena Racing Company Puppy Cup Final following a 27.25 (450m) run at Doncaster and two smart trials.
Unfortunately, his trapping let him down in both heats and semis where his sectionals (4.90, 4.88) cost him clear runs. All was dependent on him finding his trapping boots when he went to trap three in the final.
The death of Harry Williams on 7 July 2023 left a huge void in greyhound racing in the North East. The man who gave so much to the sport in the area remains greatly loved and respected.
Just short of a year on, Sunderland GM Joanne Wilson organised a meeting for a man she had known since childhood, when through her parents she was introduced to greyhound racing by visiting Harry’s Whitegates Kennel.
The racecard included a number of tributes to Harry which was attended by dozens of Harry’s friends including widow Rita who described the meeting as “fantastic, everyone reminiscing and laughing about my hubbie. I feel humbled.”
Letter – Derby coverage
So last night like many people we settled down to watch the Derby final night, and expected to be part of the exciting build up, with crowd interviews, pre recorded interviews with the trainers and owners, talks with the rehoming teams and perhaps a link to support, some exciting presenters like Hobsy, some brilliant racing culminating in the excitement of the Derby itself and all the tears and smiles of winning such an event, in essence a real extravaganza, which even if you were not interested in greyhound racing would have been a great watch!
What did we get? A very poor quality picture showing the racing, of which the resolution was so poor you could hardly see the dogs, two presenters, whom I have to say had no real excitement in their voices, almost droning on about technical stats, and the occasional interview from outside the stadium, then come the race, everyone sitting on the edge of their seat ready to shout on their chosen dog, and down the back straight we lose the picture! It made me feel I was watching some dodgy video recording in the late 80’s!
You couldn’t make this up, it would have been better not to even have the event televised and we could have relied on the internet to update us.
Someone really needs to look at this and what the Greyhound Racing industry wants, if they want to market themselves, then put on a show, show the air conditioned transport, the kennels, the rehoming teams, show the crowds interview them, show the excitement, make it fun and interactive, most of all make it in HD!
Chris Redpath
Romford opens bonus
Romford have announced that they have boosted prize money for all their Friday night opens to £350 to the winner, £100 others thoughout July, starting this coming Friday.
Opens
Monday: Nottingham
