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Betfair Trainers' Championship: A wealth of talent on display at Wimbledon

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Jonathan Hobbs looks ahead to a special night in the calendar for every dogs fans

Six trainers, six all-conquering kennels. Tuesday's Betfair Trainers' Championship at Wimbledon really promises to be one of the meetings of the year.

All the action is on Sky Sports and, with the races being staged at the home of the Derby, the night will offer Classic clues aplenty, and no shortage of top-class canine talent.

From an Oaks champion in Blonde Jeannie and fellow Derby contenders such as Ninja Jamie, Boherna On Air, Farloe Reason, to mention just three, it's a must-see for greyhound fans.

Ante-post, the night is sure to have ramifications for the Derby betting, but what is unique to the meeting is the sideshow of the trainers battling to be top points-scorer.

Make no mistake, rivalry here is fierce.

The topsy-turvy nature of the Trainers' Championship meeting - eight races over various distances with each of the six handlers fielding a runner - means that in-running betting comes to the fore.

Imagine what it would have been like in 1999? Linda Jones, a 66-1 outsider of the sextet, wins the first three races at Walthamstow and the betting is turned right on his head. But at least she held on.

In the last two years, both the vanquished Charlie Lister and Mark Wallis kennels were long odds-on to strike mid-meeting but were pipped by the other. So it often goes to the wire.
And this year promises to be as keenly contested as ever, with all the trainers, while not absolutely confident of victory, feeling that their kennels will have a say in the outcome at some point.

The annual Betfair Trainers' Championship lunch, a swish affair at a top London hotel, saw four of the handlers represented. Seamus Cahill had to be miss the afternoon due a family bereavement, while Elaine Parker returned from holiday the same day.

But Trevor Draper, representing Barrie, John Mullins, Wallis and Lister all spoke quite confidently that their teams were the strongest they probably have had been in recent years.
It will make for some great racing. The top division of the 480m, especially, would do justice to a Classic final with Blonde Jeannie up against Ninja Jamie and Boherna On Air.

Overall, Lister looks strong with the likes of Ninja Jamie, Farloe Reason, Shelbourne Rene and the newcomer Farloe Merlin. Wallis, with his strong six-bend team especially, looks to have the best 'spread' of chances; likewise Mullins with that prolific-scoring open-race pair of Toosey Blue and Blonde Jeannie

But approaching halfway, keep an eye on the points where Seamus Cahill is concerned. He could have a decent finish. Milldean Buster always has leadability claims, Big Brett Coal is never easily beaten, while Kilkenny Lonjack is a likely points scorer, albeit in a hot race.

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Elsewhere, Shawfield's Scottish Derby trials and Hove's all-open race card catch the eye, with Pond Gallileo taken to strike at Shawfield and, while not a betting proposition, Barnfield On Air to, hopefully, enjoy success at Hove.