Special night to remember duo
THE Hobart Greyhound Racing Club has again paid tribute to two of the industry’s most popular owner-trainers Diane and Denis “Bottley” Green.
On Thursday night Amorphous Fire delivered a career-best effort to win the memorial event and nobody was more pleased than the dog’s trainer Leon Brazendale, who was a long-time friend of the Greens.
The Greens spent their lives caring for and racing greyhounds and following the death of Bottley in 2007 the club introduced the Bottley Green Memorial Maiden.
A decade later when Diane died the name of the race changed to include her in the name in the memorial event. The inaugural Bottley Green Memorial Maiden was won by Hotfoot Blue, prepared by Loretta McShane who is a close friend of the Green family.
“It’s funny how some people aspire to win the big races like the Hobart Thousand but I desperately wanted to win the Bottley Green Memorial and I was lucky enough to win the inaugural running of the race,” McShane said.
McShane also prepared the winner, Iona Fire, of the inaugural running of the race that included Diane’s name after she died in 2017.
“It was an incredibly special moment to win both inaugural races.”
The Greens daughter Judy Menzies said greyhounds were such an integral part of her life growing up, owing to her late parents’ passion for the animals.
“For Mum and Dad, their greyhounds were more than just a hobby, it was their life,” Mrs Menzies said.
“I remember our trips up north in the old station wagon. I would take my pillow and my doona and, on the way home I would sleep on the back seat with the dog.
“They dedicated so much of their lives to greyhounds and it’s great that the Hobart club and the owners, trainers and breeders’ association have kept their names alive by giving them this memorial race.”