David Mullins keen to support Newcastle on All England Cup night
With the final of the Premier Greyhound Racing All England Cup run on a night to raise awareness for MND, David Mullins is keen to take Santas Amigo to Newcastle.
Mullins planning to take Santas Amigo to Newcastle
David Mullins has an extra special reason to target his Sunderland Classic winner Santas Amigo at next month’s Premier Greyhound Racing All England Cup at Newcastle.
With the Byker track remembering one of its former trainers Jimmy Wright at a special meeting on All England Cup final night, Romford trainer Mullins is hoping to be back in the north east eyeing a crack at the £20,000 Category One title, but also supporting efforts on the night to raise awareness of Motor Neurone Disease.
Mullins lost of one his best friends and longtime owner Bill McNally to MND earlier this year and the announcement of Newcastle’s plans for December 27 definitely nudged him towards a bid for the 75th running of the famous north east event.
“Bill’s funeral actually coincided with the heats of the Sunderland Classic where we had both Santas Amigo and Brindle Bully in. Kelly (Gutteridge) travelled up later with the dogs but I was in the area earlier paying my respects to Bill with his family.
“Bill would be known by lots of greyhound people as the man who had the ‘Pantone’ prefix. He’d also suffered from MND for a while so when I heard Newcastle for remembering Jimmy the way they are then I felt we should go.
“Jimmy was a great trainer and we often chat away when I met him and Angela (Harrison) on the road as such. It’s good of Newcastle to do what they’re doing and I’m sure Jimmy will be remembered in the best possible way.”
In addition to the PGR All England Cup itself, Newcastle will stage nine £1,000 one-offs named after Jimmy and some of the top greyhounds he was associated with such as Walshes Hill, Moanteen Mikey, Droopys Expert and Coolavanny Aunty.
The track will also host the inaugural Jimmy Wright Puppy Cup for 24 greyhounds with heats on December 11.
Tickets for the 2025 Premier Greyhound Racing All England Cup final on Saturday, December 27, are available online via www.newcastle-greyhounds.co.uk.
