BORNA WINE is the RPGTV/GWA Greyhound of the Month for October after the Tony Collett-owned and trained runner enjoyed a clean sweep of victories during the month.

A winner of each of his races on five consecutive Sundays in October, all live on RPGTV, the efforts of the November 2019 son of Pat C Sabbath and Borna Central caught the attention of Greyhound Writers’ Association members as well as those who watched his fantastic run of form, which started in a 500m Central Park maiden on October 3.

A strong-running victory then was followed by back-to-back puppy open successes over 480m before winning heat and final of the Arc Puppy Trophy on October 31. In the final, Borna Wine posted a fast 28.96sec, a personal best, which capped some real improvement having started his Central Park career in a D3 sprint in June.

However, soon competing at A1 level after some smart trials over the standard trip, Borna Wine won in top grade at the fifth time of asking. His two other successes prior to the five-timer in October came in A2s.

Clive Lawrence, RPGTV’s executive producer, said: “Borna Wine was the toast of backers throughout October and that was great for the show. RPGTV viewers saw him win on five consecutive Sundays and hopefully they followed his progress through on the channel – and he’s clearly a young improving dog given the times he was clocking.”

GWA chairman Jonathan Hobbs added: “It was a really strong month with the Oaks producing a great Irish-trained winner in Billys Diva for the Kennedys and some fantastic stories surrounding some of the other contenders – not least Stephen Rayner winning his first Category One title with Night Time Danny in the Coral Champion Stakes at Romford.

“We also had that extraordinary marathon at Towcester and Space Jet winning for Matt Dartnall almost saw her take the award again. She shared the honour in September after winning the St Leger and so nearly won it again.

“Candy Man remains one of the most popular open-racers in training and his win for the Weatherall camp at Perry Barr in the Birmingham Cup was special – and that’s a special sponsorship by the Lambe family, of course, while Forest Gold’s wonderful consistency for Kevin Hutton was rewarded in the BresBet Steel City at Sheffield on a superb night there.

“However, this award has never been absolutely about the biggest or best winner of the month. It’s about the achievement in itself and GWA members were impressed by what the  clearly progressive Borna Wine did. Landing a five-timer in the month is one thing, but five Sunday nights all on RPGTV was something special and unlikely to be matched soon.”

In taking the monthly honour backed by RPGTV, Borna Wine edged out Maria Kennedy’s Billys Diva (Arc Oaks), Carol Weatherall’s Candy Man (M Lambe Birmingham Cup), Kevin Hutton’s Forest Gold (BresBet Steel City Cup), Stephen Rayner’s Night Time Danny (Coral Champion Stakes) and Matt Dartnall’s Space Jet (Stadium Bookmakers Marathon Trophy).