College Causeway is Track Greyhound of the Year
Wednesday March 10 2010
VERY much as expected, College Causeway has been named as 2009 Track Greyhound of the Year. The Kerry-owned flying machine gave one of the greatest exhibitions ever witnessed when coming from last place to win the 2009 Paddy Power Irish Derby at Shelbourne Park last September and the award was presented in a Limerick hotel on Sunday last.
The joint owners of College Causeway are Abbeydorney brothers, Mike and Vincent McKenna, and the trainer is Pat Buckley, of Cappawhite. Breeder is Killarney businessman, Frank Culloty, who raced College Causeway himself before selling him to the McKennas.
The 2009 Irish Derby carried a winner's purse of € 175,000 and there is a strong possibility that College Causeway will bid for a repeat victory this year.
"We will give him a few runs and see how it goes for him," said Vincent McKenna. "If he shows up well, we will probably go for the Irish Derby again; if he doesn't show up well, we won't be running him.
"It was the way he won the Irish Derby that made it so special. I doubt if there was ever a more impressive winner of the Irish Derby in its long history and he did the time as well."
Should he give the 2010 Irish Derby a miss, College Causeway is, of course, a massive stud prospect.
In another boost for Kerry, the award for Brood Bitch of the Year at the Limerick presentation ceremony was won by Maybe Baby, owned by Denis Keane, of Rathmore.
