Greyhound News: Too Easy for Mark Wallis

Greyhounds News / Editor / 28 October 2009 / Leave a Comment

On a night when greyhound history was rewritten, champion trainer Wallis became the first handler for 15 years to win both the Derby and St Leger in the same season.

"St Leger winner Kinda Easy was following his litter brother Kinda Ready into the Classic roll of honour, the brothers landing a famous family double in the season's oldest and most prestigious races."

All the latest news from the world of greyhound racing including how winner Kinda Easy made history and why Mark Wallis was celebrating big time for the second time this year....

Mark Wallis was today celebrating a one-two in the St Leger final at Wimbledon on Tuesday as Kinda Easy and Droopys Zach produced an absolute thriller in front of the Sky cameras.

On a night when greyhound history was rewritten, champion trainer Wallis became the first handler for 15 years to win both the Derby and St Leger in the same season.
And there's more.

St Leger winner Kinda Easy was following his litter brother Kinda Ready into the Classic roll of honour, the brothers landing a famous family double in the season's oldest and most prestigious races.

And in an achievement to rival that of 'superdam' Mega Delight (Westmead Hawk, Westmead Lord etc), the brothers' mother Kinda Sleepy, herself a staying open-racer for Wallis and his mother-in-law before him Linda Jones, also became 'supermum'.

All the litter are owned, and were bred, by Kent-based trio of Daren Johnson, Chris Badger and Gary Crouch, who all celebrated long into the night at Plough Lane - for the second time this year!

The race to compete in next year's Betfair Trainer's Championship will occupy the minds of a number of trainers in the closing weeks of the year - except for Mark Wallis and Charlie Lister!

Wallis is assured of defending his Trainer of the Year title after a Classic-laden year and he and chief rival Lister are almost certain to be joined once again by Seamus Cahill and Barrie Draper.

Thereafter, the likes of Chris Allsopp, Dean Childs, Tony Collett, Paul Young and Claude Gardiner will be hoping for strong finishes to the year to claim the other two places.

Last year's Trainers' Championship meeting, kicked off by a swish lunch in London, took place at Sheffield, and the Owlerton venue is once more in line to host the lucrative meeting.

Boherna Best is back from Ireland to defend his All England Cup title. Last year's three-time Category One winner reached the final of the Irish Laurels at Cork just over a week ago, but has now returned to the kennels of Barrie Draper from Owen McKenna.
Boherna Best lines up in the sixth and final heat of the Newcastle competition tomorrow (Thursday), all of which is live into the country's betting shops via SIS before Sky pick up the final on Wednesday week (November 11)

Micro-chipping has been occupying the minds of the UK's trainers, with a DEFRA-led requirement for all greyhounds to be 'chipped' by January 1.
However, Irish trainers are not bound by the same laws and the rules governing Irish-trained entries for races such as the Derby have yet to be spelt out by the authorities.

The semi-finals of the Irish Grand National take place at Harold's Cross on Friday, with confidence not now so high behind leading English tracker, the Jason Foster-trained Platinumlancelot.

The original favourite for the extended four-round event was beaten in the quarter-finals, as home favourite Toomaline Jack continued to set the standard with sensational sub-29 seconds track record and now tops the market at 2.9.

Platinumlancelot is on the drift (10.5), with Lorraine Sams' Nebuchnadnezzar (7.4) now seemingly leading the UK challenge.

The final takes place a week on Friday (November 6).