John Brown, one of the key figures in the creation of The Gardens track at Newcastle, has died aged 82 after a short illness.
At Brown's funeral in Cessnock on Thursday, former National Coursing Association president Richard Zammit paid tribute to the former successful trainer and local businessman.
"Without John's business acumen The Gardens would not have been established successfully, and it was largely due to his efforts that the project came in under budget when it opened in 2005,'' Zammit said.
A well known citizen of Cessnock, John Brown had been a proprietor of a spray painting and panel beating business in the town, was heavily involved in local Rotary, and was a committeeman of the Singleton and Cessnock greyhound clubs.
Along with his late wife Wendy, John Brown ventured into greyhound racing in 1964, when their first greyhound, Secret Beauty, was beaten in a photo finish at her first start on the old Wyong straight track.
They secured their best greyhound, Opal Eve, when a leading Hunter Valley trainer rejected her because he did not want to train bitches.
Opal Eve's owners Don and Yvonne Sinderberry had bought Opal Eve as a 10 month old puppy and under the Brown's care she won 36 races, including the Armidale and Wauchope Cups along with the 1985 Country Championship final at Wentworth Park.
Harold Park though was Opal Eve's favourite track, and she won a top grade Invitation Stakes there over 457m in a flying 26.20 at the "Masters" age of four years and nine months.
Brown's wife Wendy was among the sport's trail-blazers, as when she led out one of their greyhounds in the early 1970s she became only the second woman trainer permitted to handle a dog on race night.
In an interview I did with Wendy Brown many years ago, she said: "Women could do just about everything except lead their dogs onto the tracks.
"In early 1972 Rita Izzard, who trained the champion bitch Roman Lou, was the first female allowed to take her greyhounds to the boxes, while I followed her soon after.''
John and Wendy Brown had a long and close relationship with Bill and June Barnett, who won the 1965 National Derby with Chariot Charm and trained the 1987 Paws Of Thunder winner See Yah.
For the Barnetts, famous breeders at Singleton, John and Wendy trained Sunshine Sheree, a finalist in the 1976 group one National Futurity, and Julius Sunshine, who won three races at Harold Park and two at Wentworth Park.
The Browns also trained Maitland Derby winner Bronson's Duel and his sister Another Brava, winner of 25 races, both of which they had purchased from the Barnetts.
John and Wendy Brown's greyhounds were noted for their durability, with Which Black winning 23 of 115 races from 1995 to 1998 and Sentosa, who won 29 of an astonishing 161 races between 2000 and 2003.
Other good performers they raced included Sally's Shadow, who won 14 races from 1997 to 1999, Future Flight, winner of the Frank Kennedy Memorial at Richmond, and Monamour, who won 21 of 96 races between 2009 and 2011.
Darrell Oxford, whose bitch Jenna's Wish set track records at Muswellbrook and Singleton when trained by the Browns, said: "John had a gruff exterior but he was a truly genuine person with great integrity.
"In all my dealings with John Brown over many years his word was his bond, one would not meet a more scrupulously honest person.''
John Brown is survived by his daughter Tracey, son Mark, and grandchildren Tristan and Shiva.
The staff of GRNSW and the hundreds of friends of John Brown wish to extend their sincere condolences to the Brown family on his passing._
