Corrigan ‘Deeply Honoured' With Wheeler Medal

JOHN Corrigan remembers his first ever winner.

“It was Lucky Result who won at Wauchope on Boxing Day 1963,” he said.

“I was living with my aunty at Taree at the time and she admitted when I got home that the bitch had got out the day before and ate all the scraps out of the garbage bin.”

It is a lasting memory for Corrigan, president of the Grafton Club since 2003, who was honoured at Thursday night's NSW Greyhound of the Year function with the Allen Wheeler Medal for his unwavering support and dedication to greyhound racing.

“Lucky Result was The Deaner-Bright Result. I had to give her to Ted Wollard not long after because I got a contract to play footy in Newcastle,” John recalls.

“She won over 700 metres at Taree the same night Zoom Top raced there. Her time was 15 lengths slower than Zoom Tops.”

Corrigan was thankful that many of his closest allies at Grafton made the trip to Sydney for the GOTY function, men like Des Winters, Steve Keep and the likes who are so integral in the running of the Grafton Club.

“I could not do this without the support of the people around me,” said Corrigan.

“We all get on so well and work so well together.

“But, I also could not do it without the support of my wife Joan and our family.

“The kids blew up saying if they had known, they would have been at the function as well.

“How could I tell them, I didn't know myself!”

The Allen Wheeler Medal inscription says it is awarded to those who show unwavering support and dedication to greyhound racing.

John Corrigan fits that description perfectly with that recognition now etched in stone.