Greyhound News: All the top stories from the greyhound world

Greyhounds News / Editor / 05 January 2009 / Leave a Comment

The big competitions of early 2009 are getting underway so check up on how the favourites are shaping up.

Romeo Maldini is [2.04] favourite to win the final of the Prestige at Hall Green on Tuesday, despite defeat in soft conditions at the Birmingham track for the semis this week.The semi-final winners were Steady Scholes and Lorrys Options, and Tuesday's final can be seen live on Sky.

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Oaks finalist Dangerous Lady misses the semi-finals of the Coronation Cup at Romford on Friday after finishing sore in the heats. Favourite for the 575m competition is Droopys Carvalho.

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Irish Derby winner Shelbourne Aston was the star of Shelbourne Park's first major meeting of 2009 when running away with his heat of the John J Casey event over 525 yards on Saturday. Brushing away the new year cobwebs in the best possible style, the Dublin venue rolled out the red carpet for a host of big-name runners, with Pat Curtin's classic champion the biggest of them all. Nine heats were run with the fastest time clocked by ex-Seamus Cahill runner Kilkenny Lonjack who scored in 31.26sec for Graham Holland in winning heat eight.

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The countdown to the Springbok will step up a gear over the next couple of weeks with trial sessions and trial stakes for the novice hurdlers' championship at Wimbedon. The fastest 36 hurdlers from times clocked in trials or races will head to traps for the first round on January 31. The final is live on Sky on February 10.

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Trainers will next week receive the first GRB Calendar, which replaces the NGRC version.
The switch follows the takeover of the NGRC and BGRB by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain and the move to new offices in London. The Greyhound Regulatory Board (GRB) effectively replaces the NGRC and the body which polices and regulates the sport.

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Oaks winner Meenala Amy warmed up for her next major target with a speedy 29.17sec trial on slow going at Perry Barr at the weekend. Kim Billingham's bitch will be one of the leading entries for the Birmingham Cup, which starts on Friday.

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Greyhound of the Year contenders Boherna Best, Bubbly Totti, Flying Winner and Lenson Joker were all among the nominations for the various categories for the GBGB Awards announced last week. It follows the end of voting by the members of the Greyhound Writers' Association and the award winners for 2008 will be announced at a London hotel on Sunday, January 25. Tickets for the black tie event are now being sold by the GBGB.

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Major events this week include the Coronation Cup heats at Romford (Monday), the Prestige semi-finals at Hall Green (Tuesday) and the heats of the Birmingham Cup at Perry Barr (Friday).