2010 Greyhound Of The Year And Industry Award Winners Announced

Queensland's greyhound industry last night celebrated the 2010 racing season with the announcement of the 2010 , Dashing Corsair.

Dashing Corsair, by out of Rose Flamenco, had a stellar season with 17 wins and 10 placings out of 37 starts.

Alongside owner Paddy Fitch, he broke the 710m Albion Park track record on no less than two occasions and ran two of the fastest 600m times at Albion Park.

Under the astute guidance of trainer , he made 11 Group finals across five states.

Dashing Corsair won the Group 3 and he secured placings in the Group 1 WA , Group 2 Easter Chase, Group 1 Gold Cup and the Group 2 Big Dog Cup.

He beat out other 2010 Greyhound of the Year nominees High Earner and He Knows Uno.

Mr Fitch and Mr Lennon accepted the award at the 2010 Greyhound Awards Evening on Saturday, February 26 at the Sofitel Brisbane with a host of industry stakeholders.

Each Queensland race club awarded their 2010 Greyhound of the Year and a number of Brisbane premiership awards were also presented including Brisbane's leading owner, trainer, sire and brood bitch.

Christina Apap was awarded the Young Achiever of the Year Award. The 22-year-old has already shown great promise, not only as a trainer, but also an active supporter of the greyhound industry.

Holding a Bachelor of Applied Science, the daughter of Tony and Jane Apap, of the A Team Stud in Gatton, Christina has grown up entrenched in the sport of racing.

She has a great love for greyhounds and is a leader in the next generation wave to enter the industry.

The 2010 Greyhound Award winners include:

  • 2010 Greyhound of the Year – Dashing Corsair
  • Brisbane – 2010 Greyhound of the Year – Terrific Style
  • Bundaberg – 2010 Greyhound of the Year – Can Acker Run
  • Cairns – 2010 Greyhound of the Year – War Machine
  • Capalaba – 2010 Greyhound of the Year – Snowball Tina
  • – 2010 Greyhound of the Year – Mystical Mandy
  • Rockhampton – 2010 Greyhound of the Year – One Stone
  • Townsville – 2010 Greyhound of the Year – Control System
  • Brisbane Leading Owner Award – Mary Burman Sponsored by TattsBet
  • Brisbane Leading Trainer Award – Sandra Hunt Sponsored by Brandons Electrical
  • Brisbane Sire of the Year – Surf Lorian Sponsored by Redcliffe Oxley Meats
  • Brisbane Brood Bitch of the Year – Solid Skye Sponsored by Bogie Lodge Breeding Kennels
  • Young Achiever of the Year – Christina Apap Sponsored by Catch the Bunny Syndicates

Hall of Fame inductees

This year there were three inductees into the Hall of Fame, the Harris Family, , and Just the Best.

  • The Harris family
    The Harris family is the first family to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The family has been involved in the greyhound industry as breeders, owners, trainers, race club secretary, president, committee members, the media and long term race sponsors.

    Molly Campbell and members of the Harris family started Queensland's first greyhound form guide, called The , in 1967. The name was later changed to the Queensland Greyhound Form Guide, which continued to be published statewide until the year 2000.

    There was Molly, her sons Col, Billy, Joe and Lou Harris, daughters Olivetta and Erin, daughters-in-law Jenny and Maree, granddaughters Susan and Michelle and others working lengthy hours to produce a detailed form guide for, at one stage, each of the 14 greyhound tracks throughout Queensland. The Form Guide office was also a central meeting point for many industry participants.

    Molly was secretary at the Capalaba Club. Col was the president there. Billy was on the Capalaba committee. Joe was the trainer for the family's greyhounds.Col dabbled in the breeding of pups and also held a trainer's licence. Billy Harris is a licensed trainer.

    The Harris family sponsors the Molly Campbell Memorial Silver Dollars annually in November at Albion Park.

    Molly's funeral and the celebration of her life was held at the Beenleigh greyhound track. The service for Col, who passed away in 2008, was held at the Capalaba track. That tells you something about how close the Harris family is to greyhound racing.

  • Tony Zammit
    Tony Zammit is a household name in greyhound racing and racing was always in his family.

    Over a period of more than 30 years he has made his mark as an all time great trainer.

    Tony started training greyhounds from a property in Burnside Road, Ormeau near Beenleigh in the mid 1970s.
    Since then he has won 17 Brisbane metropolitan premierships, more than anyone else. The first was at the Gabba in 1986, the latest at Albion Park in 2006.

    Along the way, Tony also won 10 premierships in a row.
    Tony has trained four Queensland Greyhounds of the Year. They are Pewter Frost in 1983, Cool Marvel 1990, Elusive Odie 1992 and Trojan Tears 1993.

    He also trained magnificent sprinter, and this year's Brisbane Sire of the Year, Surf Lorian.

    Tony served on the committee of the Gold Coast Greyhound Racing Club for around 10 years.

    Once with up to 36 greyhounds in work, their maximum team is now just five.

    But Tony said they are still in the greyhound industry for the long haul.

  • Just the Best
    Just the Best was actually beaten at his first three starts, however, in the 1999 Vince Curry Memorial maiden series at Ipswich, he really stepped up to the mark.

    The quite arduous series is run over four nights in four weeks, but that didn't deter owner-trainer Paul Felgate. Just the Best won his heat by 17 and a quarter lengths. He won his quarter final by 18 lengths. The semi-final was a total demoralisation of his rivals, scoring by 19 and a half lengths. Then he won the grand final by 14 lengths in race record time.
    Just the Best set tracks like Albion Park and Sandown alight as well, with slick winning times.

    The dog only raced 15 times for nine wins before being put to stud. Just the Best again lived right up to his name as a sire to , Elite State, Surf Lorian, Cool, Waterview Star and Scottish Express, to name a few .

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