Hall of Fame commentator Trevor Wilkes, who called greyhound races for 43 years in Canterbury, dies

Hall of Fame greyhound racing commentator Trevor Wilkes has died.

Wilkes retired in July last year after 43 years of service in his role as a race caller in Christchurch. The popular racing personality died on Thursday after a short battle with motor neurone disease, aged 65.

His career behind the microphone began at QEII Park in Christchurch, where greyhounds raced on the grass in the wake of the 1974 Commonwealth Games, before shifting to the current track at Addington Raceway.

Wilkes began his storied career calling harness racing trials before being in the right place at the right time, at QEII Park in 1978, saw him secure his future in greyhound racing.

READ MORE:
* Apprentice jockey Denby-Rose Tait suspended for six weeks for careless riding
* Sharp ‘N’ Smart justifies dominant favouritism in New Zealand Derby
* Top filly Legarto gives Waikato trainer Ken Kelso a first Australian group one win
* TAB believed to be close to outsourcing deal that could cost hundreds of jobs
* 150 years of thrills, spills and celebrity spotting at the Wellington Cup

When the commentator was absent for a greyhound meeting, Wilkes was asked to step in. He must have impressed, because by the following January he was offered the role permanently.

“It was just a lucky break really,” Wilkes said in an NZ TAB video titled The Trevor Wilkes Story that was produced last year.

When he retired in 2022, Wilkes said “commentating has been a wonderful job”.

“It has been fantastic to get paid for work that you love doing,” he said. “It has been a great pleasure to have serviced the greyhound code for such a long time.

“I’m going to miss commentating – it has been a wonderful ride.

“I saw many brilliant greyhounds and I met a lot of fantastic people,” he said.

Wilkes was inducted into the Greyhound Racing New Zealand Hall of Fame at the annual awards night at the end of the 2021-22 racing season.

When the announcement was made, the crowd rose to give Wilkes a standing ovation in a sign of the respect he held within the racing community.

Wilkes, who spent his last few years of schooling in Australia, had a paper round and would spend his pay at racetracks with the bookies from the age of 14 or 15.

His first loves were harness and thoroughbred racing, but he eventually found a passion for greyhound racing and never looked back.

Wilkes still filled in at the odd harness meeting or trials almost right up until his retirement.

In a social media post, former Canterbury harness and gallops commentator Mark McNamara – who is now based in Hong Kong – described Wilkes as a true gentleman.

“Never had a bad word to say about anyone and always saw the good in everything,” McNamara said of his former colleague.