HOLLOW MAN and No Rush shared the honours as the Greyhound Writers’ Association announced joint-winners of the RPGTV Greyhound of the Month for October.

In another high-class month, the Derek Knight-trained Premier Greyhound Racing Champion Stakes winner Hollow Man polled the same number of votes as Classic winner No Rush after Carol Weatherall’s brilliant bitch ended her UK career on the highest of notes when winning the PGR Oaks at Perry Barr.

In sharing the spoils, Hollow Man and No Rush edged out Churchfield Syd (Richard Rees), Droopys Clue (Seamus Cahill), Long Fellow (Matt Dartnall), Signet Goofy (John Mullins) and Swift Iconic (John Mullins), all of whom had successful Octobers.

Hollow Man is owned by Mick McCrory and capped a fantastic Romford campaign with victory in the Champion Stakes final a ninth success in a row for the June 2021 son of Pat C Sabbath and Leezie Lindsay who has since extended that unbeaten run with success at home track Hove. He set a new 575m track record at Romford in the heats.

The John and Callum Purdy-owned No Rush starred at Perry Barr in the Premier Greyhound Racing Oaks, landing a deserved but narrow decision over Jet Stream Angel and Droopys Ailsa in a driving finish for the bitches’ Classic.

A multiple big-race finalist, No Rush struck on a night when heavy rain caused a delay to the meeting, after which connections confirmed the breeding paddocks was the plan for the June 2020 daughter of King Elvis and Vahsel Bay, with a possible final race of her career at Shelbourne’s upcoming Winter Festival.

Clive Lawrence, executive producer at award sponsors RPGTV, said: “Well done to the connections of both No Rush and Hollow Man. It was a tough month for (GWA) members to vote on with a host of top performances and big-race wins – and it just seems right that these two high-class greyhounds were joint-winners.

“Both have been absolute stars on RPGTV,” added Lawrence. “Hollow Man hasn’t stopped winning and was very special during the Champion Stakes including setting a new track record and No Rush, who’s just been an ever-present in major finals for a long while now, timed it right for a career-best performance I’d say in such a good Oaks final.

“You could also say both sets of connections deserved it. No Rush had been knocking on the door for a major title for a while for Carol (Weatherall) and Darren (Holmes), while Derek (Knight) had suffered some rotten luck in the run-up to the Champion Stakes final and probably feared the worst. Thankfully all ended happily for them.”