A year ago Helens Champ raced to victory in the final of the Red Mills Champion Unraced at Kilkenny and on a number of occasions since I have been asked what exactly happened to him?

Well known English owner Mike Rowe of Future Boy fame has told me of an amazing coincidence which happened to him in recent times.

Over the past number of weeks we have been following the progress of Peter O’Connell from Killererin as he attempted to reach the summit of Mount Everest in a fundraising venture for Pieta House West.

Those of you who have been following the progress of Galwayman Peter O’Connell on his Everest expedition will be glad to know that he is rapidly approaching his destination.

  We carry here the latest updates received from Peter O’Connell’s Mt Everest Expedition.   April 16 th : After passing through Gorak Shep, Peter O’Connell has now made it to Everest Base Camp, where he will spend some time acclimatizing to the altitude and preparing to climb the notoriously unstable Khumbu Icefall. Climbing equipment and supplies are usually carried by yaks and human porters to Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier. Peter hopes to scale the icefall this week, tackling the crevasses, seracs and shifting blocks of ice, which constitute one of the most dangerous sections of the route. Above the icefall, Peter will attempt to reach Camp I at 6,065m, where he will spend a short period before advancing onwards to the next camp.  At base camp, the Galway man and his expedition crew were blessed by the sacred Lama, who rated his chances at summiting Everest at 95%, and was duly impressed by Peter’s “No Limits” mantra. Unbelievably, Peter currently has coverage on his phone, and the facebook page is really worth a visit as the updates and photos that he has uploaded are truly incredible. Peter hopes to summit within the next four weeks and to learn how he is progressing, find him on facebook under PeterOConnellEverest4Pieta or find his location through his GPS tracker on http://www.findmespot.com/mylocation/?id=BcPUk .  This campaign hopes to raise awareness and funds for Pieta House and donations can be made online at www.idonate.ie .   April 23 rd : Peter this week continued his expedition up Mount Everest to raise awareness for suicide prevention and funds for Pieta House. Peter conquered the famously difficult Khumbu Icefall which boasts treacherous ice and cavernous crevasses and makes the icefall one of the most difficult parts of the route. On Tuesday 23 rd April Peter was able to give us this update:  “Hi guys, making great progress, I spent the last week getting up through the icefall to Camp 1, then on to Camp 2 for a couple of nights and on to the lhotse face at 6,700m. Only 2,148m from the summit!! We came back down to Base Camp as the bad weather came in, through the icefall, first a crevasse field, then weaving down through the "popcorn" ice blocks the size of buses shaped like popcorn! Then down through huge gorges and pits crossing crazy ladders and navigating the glacier, but it is safe enough! We are at Base Camp for a few days now to rest, we go back up on Friday to make it as far as Camp 3 with all our summit gear and set up camp. After a few nights there, we will return to Base Camp and wait for a weather window for summit bid, which will take 5 days from Base Camp. Really enjoying it, it's tough enough but I guess it's Mount Everest!”. All the images of the camp are to be found on the facebook page “PeterOConnellEverest4Pieta”.  These photos are a great indication of the conditions Peter is living in.  Over €20,000 has been raised to date.

Eugene Dempsey from Castlebridge had a special evening at Enniscorthy Track on Thursday night when his long serving bitch Skyview Bound ran in her 100th race. Making it all the more special, she won handily.

Quite obviously my normally so-reliable Longford spies had a bit of a sleep recently! They forgot to keep me up to date with the big news of recent weeks on the midlands greyhound circuit.

How did I miss it? Dundalk Racing Manager Margaret Kavanagh celebrated her birthday on Sunday and there wasn’t a murmur from her “loyal” band of friends.

The Tally Ho Kennels in Rathkeale have been enjoying a fantastic time recently and had a night to remember at Limerick on Saturday.

What would a man from Clonakilty working in Australia call a greyhound he had just bought? Why, Clonakilty Man of course!

Rita Carberry, who was among the winning recipients at the National Greyhound Awards in Athlone last week, was back among the winners again at Dundalk on Saturday night.

The latest member of the Hennessy family stepped into the limelight at the weekend when young Sarah paraded Yonko for the concluding race at Shelbourne on Saturday.

There are few better known greyhound personalities in the midlands than Mullingar resident Pat McCarthy and he received a lovely boost on Saturday night which must have given him a real lift following his recent illness.

Almost a year ago we wrote here about a dog that had just won a race in a fourth different year. Well, the same dog, Lowertown Corie, has now gone one better by claiming a victory in each year between 2009 and 2013.

Last week we detailed the leading owners and trainers at Galway Track last year but the bare statistics don’t reveal all the little stories that lurk behind the headlines.

The old year was ticking rapidly towards its finale when our good old birdie friend turned up with a little gem of information which we feel all Irish greyhound folk should know!

They were missed from the tracks but the good news for the sport is that the Glamour Paws Syndicate is back on the road again – and in some style!

Ballysheedy trainer Neilus O’Connell is one of the quiet men of the game but, quite unnoticed, he has just enjoyed a tremendous weekend with a number of victories on track and field.

It was a really special week for Kells trainer David McKenna and Nicola Murray as their son Jake was born on Thursday and then David had a great double on Saturday’s card at Dundalk.

Tommy O’Donovan continues to catch the eye in the Melbourne area and he is now turning out a steady stream of winners with his increasing team.

Last week we related how Shelbourne’s Justin Kenny was making headlines on the hurling fields of Leinster and we mentioned that had taken over from Galway’s Ollie Hester. Well, Ollie has come bouncing back!

We’ve reported before on Ollie Hester’s footballing “talents” and we now bring you the story of a Racing Manager who is making the hurling headlines at the moment.

I was standing almost alongside Tommy Bolton when he got the news on Saturday night from his wife Sheila at Mullingar that he had just won two races with the puppies Stand On Me 22.31 and Ballymac Matilda 22.09.

Regular Limerick racegoer Emmet Roche hit the jackpot on Saturday night when winning a €30,000 Car and €14,200 in prizemoney on Winning Streak.

When I saw Piu Di Pep’s debut victory at Tralee there was a distinct impression that here could be the next Ballymac Vic!

Chandre Monerawela and his family have made a huge contribution to greyhound racing in this country and they haven’t been fully compensated for their efforts.

Well respected Waterford Track reporter and enthusiast Peter Fitzgerald wonders if the Tommy English owned Bettyshill Hi (Ace Hi Rumble/ Bettyshill Lady) set a new record when winning an A7/8 contest at the track on July 10th.

Most consistent tracker at Dundalk this year has been Fergus Run, a dog trained by Peter Noone for Bob Rowe.

Classical Beauty, an ever-present high class runner on the North Leinster circuit over the past four seasons, has run his last race.

While the Paddy Byrne Memorial and the Derby Trial Stake were both featured on Friday’s Tralee card the fastest winner of the night was a puppy making his racing debut.