Martin White, founder of the Greyhound Owners Breeders and Trainers Association (GOBATA) believes the Greyhound Trainers Association (GTA) have wasted the guts of four years and put back the cause of professional trainers since Ricky Holloway was elected GTA chairman in July 2012.
White said: “When the election took place, the professional trainers engaged with the full and realistic expectation of dialogue with GBGB in an attempt to move the industry forward. In particular there was a recognition that those individuals who supplied the bulk of the racing pool of dogs and depended on greyhound racing for a living – the professional trainers – were in need of support.
“At that time Jim Reynolds, who was, and still is, the outstanding candidate to represent professional trainers, and Rick Holloway, were both on the same side. That is to say they wanted to take back ownership of the GTA for professional trainers. The association was no longer an effective voice for those for whom it was supposed to represent. Basically, the opportunity and the time for change had arrived.
“The fact that Rick Holloway subsequently won by a 2 – 1 majority, more or less, was due in no small part to the fact that Reynolds stepped aside rather than split the vote and run the risk of allowing the “old” school back in again.
“Immediately after the election the new Chairman disbanded the GTA as it had existed to that date and effectively disenfranchised those who had elected him by forming a new association with a new agenda.
“The people who elected the new Chairman no longer have an association. If they do it certainly doesn’t represent them. The GTA doesn’t exist. The characteristics of the new association carry the same hallmarks of the long forgotten SOS campaign to reopen a flagship track at Walthamstow; an obsession with confrontation and unfounded allegations of corruption and backhanders. We have been listening to it for far too long. And it gets nowhere.
“Yes it is hindsight, but professional trainers who rely on this sport for a living and who partook in that election in 2012 should ask themselves the question ; if Holloway had done the right thing and stepped aside and left the field open for Reynolds, instead of the other way around, would they now have a stronger effective association and would they have confidence that they would get a deal done ?
“It’s a fair question which demands an answer. A lot of thankless work and long hours by a large number of individuals in the three years leading up that election ensured that the way was open for the GTA to take their rightful place and do the job they were empowered to do by those who elected them .
“The GBGB took a step forward when they appointed a new chairman with a proven record. Yes he may have been on the other side but he is now on the side of the sport.
“He has a record of getting things done. It was up to trainers to make sure we had someone on their side who would prove a worthy adversary and would add value.
“That hasn’t happened. The apologists for the current leadership no longer have any credibility, the leadership has no credibility, and professional trainers in their hour of greatest need have no association.
“It has all gone wrong.”
