Gay McKenna was an Irish

greyhound trainer A greyhound trainer is a person who trains greyhounds for racing. This involves exercising, feeding, and grooming them in addition to keeping the greyhound in race condition to enable the greyhound to race to the best of its ability. History Befo ...

who won the

Irish Greyhound Derby The Irish Greyhound Derby held at Shelbourne Park, is the premier greyhound racing competition in Ireland. First held at Harold's Cross in 1928, the event was unofficial until 1932 and called the National Derby. The first winner in 1928 was Tip ...

five times. He was considered the leading trainer in Ireland from 1960 until 1972.

Early life

McKenna was born in Birr, County Offaly. He operated his kennels at

Cabinteely Cabinteely () is a suburb of Dublin's southside. It is in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland. Geography Cabinteely lies around the crossroads of Johnstown Road / Brennanstown Road and the Old Bray Road, and on either side of ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. He was introduced to the sport by his father Joe McKenna who had two finalists in the

1934 Irish Greyhound Derby The 1934 Irish Greyhound Derby known as the National Derby at the time took place during August and September with the final being held at Harold's Cross Stadium in Dublin. The 1934 Irish Derby was finally awarded to Harold's Cross on condition ...

and won the 1936

Irish Grand National The Irish Grand National is a National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Fairyhouse over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs (5,834 ...

Career

After many attempts, in 1965 he won the Irish Greyhound Derby with Ballyowen Chief. He repeated the feat a year later with Always Proud. In 1971, Monalee Pride provided the third success for and a fourth and final win in 1972 by Catsrock Daisy. In addition, McKenna also won the

Irish Oaks The Irish Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres), and it i ...

with Drumsough Princess (1965) and Rosmore Robin (1970), the Irish Cesarewitch with Postal Vote (1970) and Rita's Choice (1973), and the Irish National Sprint with Skip's Choice (1960). The four Irish Derby titles remains a record today equalled only by his brother-in-law Tom Lynch.

Death

McKenna died during the 2004 Irish Derby on 10 September. That final was won by Owen McKenna (Gay's first cousin once removed) and the runner up was trained by Fraser Black (McKenna's son-in-law).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Gay Sportspeople from County Offaly 2004 deaths Sportspeople from Birr, County Offaly Irish greyhound racing trainers