TUESDAY RACING SEES OLWINN CAIN THE QUICKEST

There was the unusual spectacle of greyhound racing taking place at the Brandywell Track on Tuesday night as the usual Monday night meeting had to be rescheduled following a technical problem.
The eight race card began with a sprint won by Olwinn Cain for Oliver Canavan in 16.90 while Sassy Sue obliged in the second race over the same distance in 17.02 and Suffolk Boy won the Brandywell Sprint in 16.98.
The fourth race resulted in Darty Dynamite clocking 28.44 over the 500 yards distance while Olwinn Meg ran in 28.03 to give owner Canavan a double.
Dance Messi once again enjoyed a good night out at the Brandywell by winning the sixth race in 28.23.
The penultimate contest saw Porthall Kara over the line in 28.39 while the in-form Senahel Blitz secured victory for Juliet Aldridge and Vincent McGuinness in the concluding event with a run of 17.01.
Meanwhile, representatives from Foyle Search & Rescue will be attending next Monday to receive a donation from the Brandywell Greyhound Supporters Group members.

Greyhound welfare
In other news, it emerged this week that the Irish Greyhound Board (IGB) spent €2 million on welfare and regulation related matters last year.
A number of care and welfare measures, including a greyhound injury support scheme, the launch of the Greyhound Care Line, an extension of our foster care scheme, the establishment of the Greyhound Care Fund and other initiatives have been introduced in recent months.
Further measures, such as a traceability system for all racing greyhounds and negotiations with international rehoming agencies to rehome more retired Irish greyhounds, continue to progress.
According to the IGB, between January 1st - September 30th, 2019, a total of 388 welfare inspections were carried out, which included ‘greyhound establishments’ and trainers’ kennels.
During the first nine eight months of this year, 4,164 samples were taken from greyhounds with a total of 13 “adverse analytical findings”.

Rehomimg
The rehoming of greyhounds continues to see increased numbers.
The Irish Retired Greyhound Trust now assists Irish Private Rehoming Agencies in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, Kerry and Belfast by providing financial assistance towards either their veterinary costs or their transportation costs. Organisations may submit proposals to the IRGT for financial assistance and such proposals will then be considered by the Trustees of the IRGT.
IRGT rehomings between January and September 2019 stood at 425, up from 402 for the same period in 2018.

Indecon Report
In other news, The IGB has been advised by Indecon that the report commissioned by the IGB for a systematic review of the footprint of the greyhound industry is entering its final stages.
The assessment has involved the collation of detailed financial data from a variety of sources, an extensive public consultation process as well as getting data on the sport in other countries.
The report will now not be delivered until late November 2019.
Its findings will be awaited with much interest, as it will have a big bearing on the future direction for many tracks in Ireland.