Page 17 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW SPECIAL ISSUE 7 B

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 1 7

It was Fr Brophy`s dream that Mick the Miller or Macoma would go on to win
the holy grail of coursing, the Waterloo Cup. But things had changed by 1927 as
the new outlet of oval track racing had opened up for greyhounds. Belfast’s
Celtic Park was the first of these tracks to be built in Ireland, swiftly followed by
the opening of Shelbourne Park in Dublin. Fr Brophy decided to bring both dogs
for trials at Shelbourne. After watching them run, Michael Greene had the idea
to build a dummy track back in Killeigh. He did this from chicken-wire in a half
moon shape and trained the dogs to run around the bend. Fr Brophy also
enlisted the services of Meath man Mick Horan who was Shelbourne`s licenced

trainer. Under Mick Horan`s tutelage Mick the Miller went on to win his first 4
races at Shelbourne.

5. Report from the Irish Independent on Mick`s 4th ever race and
his 4th win in a row.

Disaster then struck on May 11th, the morning after the Abercorn Cup final in
Belfast when Mick was found shivering in his kennel. He was diagnosed with
distemper and the vet`s orders were to let him rest. Mick convalesced back in
Killeigh under the care of Michael Greene but received treatment from Dublin

vet Arthur Callinan. Fr Brophy at this stage tried to sell both Mick and Macoma
who was also injured but only succeeded in selling Macoma (who did go on to
become a champion hurdler in England). It was November (6 months after he
got sick) before Mick the Miller had regained enough strength to compete again.
He resumed his coursing career with four losses and one win at
Castletowngeoghan. By March 1929 he was fit to race at the track again and he
won 11 of his next 15 races, coming 2nd in 4 of them.