This year will mark the 38th running of the time-honoured Newman McDonnell Memorial. Heats will be conducted over 512 metres for grade five greyhounds on Sunday, November 5 with the final a week later.

Newman McDonnell, one of the inaugural committee members of the South Eastern Greyhound Racing Club, was also president of the club when greyhound racing commenced at the Glenburnie track seven years later in 1979. He died on November 15, 1985 at the age of 81.

Kenzel Lad won the first memorial 12 months later. Subsequent memorial winners at the original greyhound track situated at the race course were Bozie Flyer, irkanda Leo, Invercoe Riot, National Ribbon, Foxtrot Oscar, Bush Pepper, Larradinya, Wild Welcome, Colin Ian and Ashanti Gem.

Camo’s Lucky, trained at Penshurst by John Cameron, won the 2012 McDonnell Memorial – the first to be run at a TAB meeting. By then racing was well and truly entrenched at Lake Terrace East and being conducted by the Mount Gambier Greyhound Racing Club.

And Allendale East trainer David Peckham’s Bourne Again is still the only greyhound to have won consecutive memorials in 2013 and 2014.

Winners to follow since then have been Boris Bekim (Brian Fish), Glenville Jester (Richard Clayfield), Lektra Stomp (Brian Lenehan), Banjo Lass (Tracie Price), Spring Value (Kevin Mugavin), Midnight Daisy (David Peckham), Crush Your Enemy (Tim Richards) and Classic Moment (Kevin Mugavin).

Race record holder is Lektra Stomp with a time of 29.69 seconds. He is also a former track record holder.