Ricky Holloway is elected new trainers' chairman

Ricky Holloway: new GTA chairman

  PICTURE: STEVE NASH  

Ricky Holloway has been  declared the new chair of Greyhound Trainers' Association. He received 181 votes, compared with 69 for  John Simpson

The count started at 11am Monday morning. It took just over one hour.

The election, to replace Norah McEllistrim, was between the pair with  Holloway seen as offering a radical 'new face'.

Counting took place at the offices of the Greyhound Board, as it had been asked by McEllistrim to supervise it – GBGB director of regulation Declan Donnelly and company secretary Akin Yilmaz carried  out the count.

The electorate of  394 professional trainers had been divided into four groups, with four different GBGB officials responsible for ensuring each section received a secure ballot. It was a secret ballot, with the pre-paid return envelopes numbered to ensure no duplication, a voting trainer being ticked off, with the process was designed to ensure the actual vote remained unknown.

250 votes were received, which meant a 63 per cent 'turnout'.

Full story and reaction from the contenders in Tuesday's Racing Post.  Holloway has also been invited to write The Monday Column in the paper next week.