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Derby Day moves forward a month as new TV schedule is revealed

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Once again Wimbledon will be the Greyhound mecca for 2008 as Darrell Williams assesses the Sky Sports dog racing calendar..

Wimbledon will again have a big input into Sky Sports live greyhound programme next year following the release of dates for the first half of 2008. It was revealed that of the eighteen meetings due to be broadcast between January and June, no fewer than seven will come from Plough Lane with the Blue Square Derby headlining the coverage.

The schedule also confirms that the Derby will move forward a month, as has been traditional in years when there is a major football tournament taking place, with the £100,000 final scheduled for Saturday 31st May. Sky, as usual, will also cover the semi-finals (Saturday 24th May) as well as the quarter-finals (Tuesday 20th May). The first live Wimbledon meeting however will not take place until Tuesday 5th February with the Racing Post Juvenile - traditionally run in the first week in January,- having been put back (see below). Sky will return just a week later for the Springbok final on 12th February, before a further visit for the Betfair Trainers Championship on 11th March, which is back in south London after being run at Hall Green this spring. The Grand National, set for 15th April, will also be shown live.

The Juvenile Championship, won this year by Express Ego, has been pushed back from its regular first Tuesday in January slot to a new home in early February. It's hoped it will ensure more of the eligible greyhounds are available to take part. The criteria for qualification in recent years has been on a points scoring system based around the previous year's major puppy events, but has often resulted in a number of the qualifiers not taking up their option because of the race's early season position in the calendar; many of the leading greyhounds being rested during this time. By moving back it's expected most of them would be back in training and therefore more likely to run. It is also interesting to note that unlike in previous years there has been no mention of a current point's table in the Racing Post, suggesting that perhaps a different method will be employed to select the runners. The previous system had often resulted in greyhounds that had peaked in the summer/autumn qualifying for the race - and more regularly those at the older end of the juvenile age scale - rather than runners who had shown more recent top class form. It may therefore be that a different method will be used to select the runners, perhaps involving entry by invitation.

Wimbledon have decided against taking on a new trainer for the time being and will instead rely on the services of its current contract handlers, after a reported upsurge in the number of available dogs, although perhaps the limited number of applications received may also have had a bearing on the matter!

Boherash Einri is the pick of the grade one performers in action this weekend and can take the A1 on Friday (10.0). Norah McEllistrim's charge dipped under the 28 sec barrier in winning a similar race last time and can account for a slightly below par Lilywhite Paddy, while Glendan is an interesting new comer for Tony Taylor.

Mandeville Anne is taken to score in the S1 which follows (10.15) after a much improved run in defeat last week suggesting she has hit form out of season. I'll take Wayward Ted in Saturday's A1 (9.45) to make all the running after three good runs in defeat against more established A1 rivals in recent starts, while Generous Man, a useful Open racer who has joined the McEllistrim set-up can take a decent H1 at 8.30. He was a good winner on Leger night on Sky Sports, and can confirm that useful run in a decent hurdle contest.