O'Donnell started training in 1968 and first came to prominence in the late 1970s with 'Malange', reaching the 1978 St Leger final at Wembley and winning the 1978 Irish St Leger at Limerick.[1]
After twelve years of success, he finally won the Irish Derby with The Other Toss in 1990.[2] O'Donnell successfully defended the title in 1991 with Ardfert Mick [3] and joined the exclusive group of English/Irish Derby winning trainers with Farloe Melody in 1992.[4] In 1995 he won a third Irish Derby.[5]
He was based in Killenaule, County Tipperary,[6] and amassed 22 Classic winners.[7] After retiring from training he assisted his wife Frances, who took over the licence; in 2012 she won the Irish Derby.[8]
Personal lifeedit
Before he trained greyhounds he owned a milk delivery business and a haulage firm. He married Frances Ruth (sister of another leading training Dolores Ruth), both Frances and Dolores are daughters of another trainer John Ruth who died in 1993.[6]
^Hobbs, Jonathan (2008). Greyhound Annual 2008, page 62. Raceform. ISBN978-1-905153-534.
^"Skywalker Puma swoops to conquer in Derby thriller". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
^"Farewell to training legend Matt O'Donnell". Irish Independent.
November 30, 2023
matt, donnell, greyhound, trainer, matt, donnell, irish, greyhound, trainer, three, time, winner, irish, greyhound, derby, time, winner, english, greyhound, derby, regarded, ireland, time, leading, trainers, matt, donnelloccupationgreyhound, trainerbornjune, 1. Matt O Donnell was an Irish greyhound trainer He is a three time winner of the Irish Greyhound Derby and one time winner of the English Greyhound Derby and is regarded as one of Ireland s all time leading trainers Matt O DonnellOccupationGreyhound TrainerBornJune 1933Died4 January 2016 aged 83 Major racing winsClassic Feature wins English Greyhound Derby 1992 Irish Greyhound Derby 1990 1991 1995 Easter Cup 1984 1987 1990 1991 1992 Champion Stakes 1986 1991 St Leger 1978 1982 1985 1986 1989 1992 1995 Grand National 1979 Cesarewitch 1994 Produce 1978 1985 1989 Oaks 1987 Career editO Donnell started training in 1968 and first came to prominence in the late 1970s with Malange reaching the 1978 St Leger final at Wembley and winning the 1978 Irish St Leger at Limerick 1 After twelve years of success he finally won the Irish Derby with The Other Toss in 1990 2 O Donnell successfully defended the title in 1991 with Ardfert Mick 3 and joined the exclusive group of English Irish Derby winning trainers with Farloe Melody in 1992 4 In 1995 he won a third Irish Derby 5 He was based in Killenaule County Tipperary 6 and amassed 22 Classic winners 7 After retiring from training he assisted his wife Frances who took over the licence in 2012 she won the Irish Derby 8 Personal life editBefore he trained greyhounds he owned a milk delivery business and a haulage firm He married Frances Ruth sister of another leading training Dolores Ruth both Frances and Dolores are daughters of another trainer John Ruth who died in 1993 6 Matt died on 4 January 2016 9 References edit Barnes Julia 1988 Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File Ringpress Books ISBN 0 948955 15 5 Genders Roy 1990 NGRC book of Greyhound Racing Pelham Books Ltd ISBN 0 7207 1804 X Hobbs Jonathan 2004 Greyhound Annual 2005 Raceform ISBN 1 904317 58 8 1992 Greyhound Data Irish Derby Final Greyhound Data a b Barnes Sellers Julia John 1992 Ladbrokes Greyhound Fact File Ringpress Books ISBN 0 948955 22 8 Hobbs Jonathan 2008 Greyhound Annual 2008 page 62 Raceform ISBN 978 1 905153 534 Skywalker Puma swoops to conquer in Derby thriller Irish Examiner Retrieved 25 November 2023 Farewell to training legend Matt O Donnell Irish Independent Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Matt O 27Donnell greyhound trainer amp oldid 1186779688, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
