The 8.20 at Hall Green on Saturday night was an A3 contest but saw an A7 dog run in error when Lynn Marie was mistakenly run as litter-brother Fugazi. Lynn Marie unsurprisingly finished in last place.
Hall Green general manager Stephen Rea had this to say;
“They are both white and brindle and virtually identical, but one is a bitch and the other a dog so how on earth this one has slipped through I just don’t know,” admitted Rea.
“We have so many procedures, three lots of checks and this just shouldn’t happen. I’m spitting feathers about it and can only apologise to all our patrons for something which is unacceptable.
“I’ve had the paddock steward in and it seems he has taken the kennel girl’s word that the correct greyhound has been presented. They were due to run in consecutive races, but the mistake came to light when it came to get the second greyhound out – the procedures obviously worked that time.
“We immediately withdrew Lynn Marie from the A7 race and informed stipendiary steward Jack Robinson. He’ll send a full report to the GBGB and we will face whatever the consequences are.
“In all my time in the sport, this is the first time I’ve been involved with one of these. You read about them and wonder how they can happen, but you cannot account for human error and that will still be the case I suppose when micro-chipping comes in.”