Name: Martin White

Age: 60

Current Position/Interest in the sport: Owner / Trainer

Background in the sport: Always owned and trained dogs.

Local Track: Monmore

Favourite Track: Nottingham, although the real favourites have closed; Celtic Park and Dunmore Park in Belfast.

How did you get involved & how long have you been involved in greyhound racing:
In our street of terraced houses in Newry as a child lots of families had greyhounds, including the odd classic winner. 

Favourite dog: Hairdresser, a little whippet of a bitch who won the National Sprint and the Oaks with lightning early and who regularly outpaced top class dogs.  I remember her outpacing Newdown Heather to the bend one night in Dunmore Park when nobody could see her as she was on the other side of him until she suddenly ran away from him going into the bend.

Current dogs owned: 2 young dogs I bought as pups who are only starting off.  

Best moment in Greyhound Racing: Winning the Oaks in Powerstown Park with Back Again, a home-bred. She won a trial stake, a 32 all-aged cup and the Oaks in the space of 9 weeks. Apart from that, finishing second in the Irish Derby with Pets Echo.  

How can greyhound racing be improved and what, in your opinion, are its main problems:
 It can only be improved with good management, investment, marketing skills and a committment from GBGB to play its designated role to resurrect racing back into the sporting and social world and reduce our dependency on providing a service to bookmakers. The main problem is the stranglehold that sectional interests have on the industry. 

Why did you join GOBATA: Got fed up watching the sport drift aimlessly downhill.