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Greyhound of the Year Betting: Barnfield or Spiridon?

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Darrell Williams rates the two contenders for one of the sport's most prestigious prizes...

The debate as to who is the most worthy winner of Greyhound of the Year - Barnfield On Air or Spiridon Louis - will rage on until the BGRB Awards are announced on Sunday 20th January.

The criteria for deciding the winner is that it will be determined from one of the five distance category winners, of which 'Barney' is nominated in the Standard division and 'Spiridon' in both the Stayers and Marathon categories. The difficulty of course in trying to argue who is best is that the two contenders are both very different types of dog.

For seekers of pure speed and lovers of fast times Barnfield On Air, currently [1.3] in the market, has no peers. As Peter Meldrum pointed out in the Racing Post the other day, not only did he record the fastest rating of the year - in that phenomenal track-record-smashing Sussex Cup win back in the summer - but also dominates the top ten best performances in terms of ratings in 2007.

Competition wise, as well as that Hove victory he also won the Blue Square 480, another Category One prize, at Coventry in November plus the Invitation race at the Racing Post Festival.

But how do you compare an exceptionally fast dog with a greyhound whose versatility sees him nominated for both the six- and eight-bend crowns? Like his rival, Spiridon Louis ([2.52]) also captured two Category One crowns including the St Leger.

The ability to drop him back successfully to claim one of the sport's Classics after winning the TV Trophy amongst other eight-bend hauls in the summer was quite something. Remember he had started his big prize winning sequence in the Regency, another Category one prize, back in the spring. Whichever way you see it - and the market is open for you to back up your opinion - I think it's only right to say that both would be extremely worthy winners and it's a shame in a way that only one can be crowned champion a week on Sunday.

Markets are incidentally also available for both the Sprinter and Hurdlers crowns, also announced at the Royal Lancaster bash the same night. In the sprinters, Blonde Jet has already secured the prize for winning the most Open races in 2007, having notched up an incredible 24 successes from 36 starts; his tally including both the sprint competition at the Sussex Cup meeting and more recently the Christmas Sprint at Monmore.

The major sprint prize, the Scurry, was captured by Horseshoe Ping at Perry Barr in August, on the back of an amazing track record breaking performance in the semi-final, while he later claimed the Classic Shield at Romford just before Christmas. Lunar Vacation earns her nomination after breaking four track records prior to her seasonal rest as part of a strike rate of 12 wins from 20 starts.

Not surprisingly, both Grand National winner Jos Cigar, also successful in a Sittingbourne competition in August, and Champion Hurdle winner Newlawn Berts, earn nominations in the hurdle division, where they are joined by Racing Post Hurdle winner Kildare Lark, who was also third in the Champion Hurdle.

Good luck to all the greyhounds in every category, and to all connections involved, remember it's a great achievement just to have been nominated.