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A gentleman ,Proper Dog Man RIP 
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Terrific tribute to him on Talking Dogs from Michael Fortune.
SEAMUS GRAHAM
23/04/2014
Word spread like wildfire across the greyhound globe this morning about the sudden passing of one of the great legends of greyhound sport, Seamus Graham.
The genial gentleman from Ballickmoyler in County Laois has written and re-written the history pages of greyhound folklore and he will forever be remembered as one of the greatest handlers of a greyhound this world has ever known.
Having had the pleasure of travelling the length and breadth of the greyhound world in his company, from Australia to America to Britain, it was the same story wherever you went. He was treated by the locals with a degree of reverence only ever reserved for the greatest dignitaries.
As a young child I was fortunate to become friendly with Seamus, thanks to his close relationship with my late father. In those days the Graham family were private owners and breeders of extremely fast greyhounds.
He bought his first greyhound, August Morning, back in 1958 and she won a dozen races. She turned into a decent brood bitch and over the years Graham’s name became feared on tracks all over the country. He won major stakes with the likes of Rutland Ranger and Murchu but really entered the big time when he bought a bitch called Kind Of Luxury from Dan Dunne who lived on The Heath.
A brilliant tracker, Kind Of Luxury was an even better brood. The first few litters were very useful, including winning trackers such as Weigh In Rita and SuilThart but then came the mating to Sand Man. A member of this litter was Dipac which provided him with his first Derby success at Shelbourne Park in 1984.
FIRST DERBY
A combination of Graham’s training prowess and the veterinary skills of Plunkett Devlin saw the dog overcome a career threatening injury to win that Derby.
Dipmac was owned by two men who were to enjoy many great years as owners of greyhounds in the Graham kennels, Paschal Taggart and Noel Ryan.
The big winners continued to roll … further Irish Derby successes with the brilliant bitch Tina Marina and then Climate Control and a much desired English Derby victory with Ryan’s Loyal Honcho.
I’ll never forget that night at Wimbledon as he strode into the infield at Wimbledon with tears in his eyes and a life’s ambition realised.
He was, perhaps, an even greater handler of bitches. He provided Phonsie King and I with the memories of a lifetime as he won the Irish Oaks with Cool Survivor but she also won the TV Trophy over 750 yards, the Puppy Oaks, the Micheal Foley 600, etc. He trained many other great winners for us while, in partnership with Aidan O’Regan, I enjoyed success in a number of top events with Get Connected.
Cool Survivor was his first Irish Oaks winner but others followed quickly as Marinas Tina won the bitch classic in 2000 and 2001.
GREAT NIGHTS
WE recall the great nights when Boyne Walk won the National Sprint at Dunmore, the Cesarewitch at Navan with Ratify and then at Mullingar with Mega Delight, the Easter Cup with Premier Fantasy and Mineola Farloe, the Comerford Cakes with Premier Fantasy, the Corn Cuchulainn Nifty Niamh, Mega Delight and Smiling Man, the Cox Cup with Top Boe, etc, etc.
There is no doubt the “love” of his greyhound collection was Premier Fantasy and only last Wednesday night his name came up in discussion at Shelbourne Park and the tears came to his eyes. He never really fully recovered from that traumatic night at Wimbledon when Premier Fantasy’s racing career was so cruelly ended by a first bend accident.
His wife Noreen has been a rock by his side for many, many years and Seamus loved nothing better than to be surrounded on a Sunday evening by his family in the “house up the hill” in Ballickmoyler. Our deepest sympathies go to Noreen, sons Philip, Diarmuid and Colm and daughters Mary and Aileen and to the extended Graham family.
Greyhound racing has lost a true friend, a real icon of the sport/industry and in its place is a huge void.
His first ever sweepstake victory was at Kilkenny and two weeks ago he won his last sweepstake at the same track and the man himself accepted the Coursing Stakes Sprint trophy from Pat Loughlin.
Reposing at his home in Ballickmoyler tomorrow Thursday with prayers at 8 pm. Funeral Mass will be at 12noon on Friday at Mayo Crettyard Parish Church.
23/04/2014
Word spread like wildfire across the greyhound globe this morning about the sudden passing of one of the great legends of greyhound sport, Seamus Graham.
The genial gentleman from Ballickmoyler in County Laois has written and re-written the history pages of greyhound folklore and he will forever be remembered as one of the greatest handlers of a greyhound this world has ever known.
Having had the pleasure of travelling the length and breadth of the greyhound world in his company, from Australia to America to Britain, it was the same story wherever you went. He was treated by the locals with a degree of reverence only ever reserved for the greatest dignitaries.
As a young child I was fortunate to become friendly with Seamus, thanks to his close relationship with my late father. In those days the Graham family were private owners and breeders of extremely fast greyhounds.
He bought his first greyhound, August Morning, back in 1958 and she won a dozen races. She turned into a decent brood bitch and over the years Graham’s name became feared on tracks all over the country. He won major stakes with the likes of Rutland Ranger and Murchu but really entered the big time when he bought a bitch called Kind Of Luxury from Dan Dunne who lived on The Heath.
A brilliant tracker, Kind Of Luxury was an even better brood. The first few litters were very useful, including winning trackers such as Weigh In Rita and SuilThart but then came the mating to Sand Man. A member of this litter was Dipac which provided him with his first Derby success at Shelbourne Park in 1984.
FIRST DERBY
A combination of Graham’s training prowess and the veterinary skills of Plunkett Devlin saw the dog overcome a career threatening injury to win that Derby.
Dipmac was owned by two men who were to enjoy many great years as owners of greyhounds in the Graham kennels, Paschal Taggart and Noel Ryan.
The big winners continued to roll … further Irish Derby successes with the brilliant bitch Tina Marina and then Climate Control and a much desired English Derby victory with Ryan’s Loyal Honcho.
I’ll never forget that night at Wimbledon as he strode into the infield at Wimbledon with tears in his eyes and a life’s ambition realised.
He was, perhaps, an even greater handler of bitches. He provided Phonsie King and I with the memories of a lifetime as he won the Irish Oaks with Cool Survivor but she also won the TV Trophy over 750 yards, the Puppy Oaks, the Micheal Foley 600, etc. He trained many other great winners for us while, in partnership with Aidan O’Regan, I enjoyed success in a number of top events with Get Connected.
Cool Survivor was his first Irish Oaks winner but others followed quickly as Marinas Tina won the bitch classic in 2000 and 2001.
GREAT NIGHTS
WE recall the great nights when Boyne Walk won the National Sprint at Dunmore, the Cesarewitch at Navan with Ratify and then at Mullingar with Mega Delight, the Easter Cup with Premier Fantasy and Mineola Farloe, the Comerford Cakes with Premier Fantasy, the Corn Cuchulainn Nifty Niamh, Mega Delight and Smiling Man, the Cox Cup with Top Boe, etc, etc.
There is no doubt the “love” of his greyhound collection was Premier Fantasy and only last Wednesday night his name came up in discussion at Shelbourne Park and the tears came to his eyes. He never really fully recovered from that traumatic night at Wimbledon when Premier Fantasy’s racing career was so cruelly ended by a first bend accident.
His wife Noreen has been a rock by his side for many, many years and Seamus loved nothing better than to be surrounded on a Sunday evening by his family in the “house up the hill” in Ballickmoyler. Our deepest sympathies go to Noreen, sons Philip, Diarmuid and Colm and daughters Mary and Aileen and to the extended Graham family.
Greyhound racing has lost a true friend, a real icon of the sport/industry and in its place is a huge void.
His first ever sweepstake victory was at Kilkenny and two weeks ago he won his last sweepstake at the same track and the man himself accepted the Coursing Stakes Sprint trophy from Pat Loughlin.
Reposing at his home in Ballickmoyler tomorrow Thursday with prayers at 8 pm. Funeral Mass will be at 12noon on Friday at Mayo Crettyard Parish Church.
Thoughts with his Family and Friends ,I can remember the PF night like yesterday ,A stunned silence came over the don ,he was a great
dog trained by a great trainer ,Im sure Seamus thought he was not destined to win the Derby ,spec when Honcho finnished 2nd ...
The night Honcho won the whole stadium seemed to celebrate with him
dog trained by a great trainer ,Im sure Seamus thought he was not destined to win the Derby ,spec when Honcho finnished 2nd ...
The night Honcho won the whole stadium seemed to celebrate with him
What a great Video sums the man up ,absolute Legends the 2 of them ...
very sad news,one of the greats of the sport
funny and true story,a mate of mine had a dog that won the cesarawitch over here,dark hondo.
He was at shelbourne one night and they had some sort of competition in mind over there for him and were looking for a trainer in ireland to look after the dog for the comp.
Whilst in conversation with seamus he mentioned his idea about dark hondo and would seamus take the dog for the comp,seamus told him "no,i only have fast dogs in my kennel",lol.
funny and true story,a mate of mine had a dog that won the cesarawitch over here,dark hondo.
He was at shelbourne one night and they had some sort of competition in mind over there for him and were looking for a trainer in ireland to look after the dog for the comp.
Whilst in conversation with seamus he mentioned his idea about dark hondo and would seamus take the dog for the comp,seamus told him "no,i only have fast dogs in my kennel",lol.
gutted, very nice fellah, hope Noreen is o k, r i p seamie
Ive just heard that Teresa Cahill has said that premier fantasy has also passed away today on twitter 
he won from our kennels and premier fantasy died this morn as well #ripseamus
RIP Seamus
Great man with a dog, he will be sorely missed.
Great man with a dog, he will be sorely missed.
very sad Seamus was a lovely man and the greatest dog ever passing away too
premier fantasy died today as well? what a total b@stard of a day today has been 
Met him once or twice. He was a top man who had time for you if you had time for greyhounds.
We should be having a race named in his honour on Wimbledon Derby final night.
We should be having a race named in his honour on Wimbledon Derby final night.
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