Greyhounds News / Editor / 16 November 2009 / Leave a Comment

All the latest news at the start of an action packed week - including Eclipse and Yorkshire St Leger renewals, Meanwhile, making a stand at Wimbeldon and trainers eye Betfair spot...

Doncaster appears in front of the Sky cameras for the second time on Tuesday with the £9,000 Yorkshire St Leger final the pick of the action on Sky Sports 3.

Favourite around [2.70] is Crown Rover after a bloodless victory in his semi-final. But leading the opposition to Jimmy Wright's dog are the first and second in the Wimbledon St Leger, Kinda Easy and Droopys Zach, both trained by Mark Wallis.

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Irish Derby winner College Causeway will be at Doncaster on Tuesday - but not to race!

The star Irish tracker will be paraded before the puppy final staged in his name which supports the Yorkshire St Leger final on Sky.

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Wise Thought sets out on the defence of his Eclipse crown at Nottingham on Monday.

Carly Philpott's dog is among a high-class entry for the Nottingham 500m race. Favourite at around [6.2] is Yarmouth Derby winner and leading Greyhound of the Year contender Fear Zafonic.

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Wimbledon is set to move its racing operation to the far side stand next year - but the 2010 Derby might still see racegoers view the action from the seemingly doomed main grandstand.

There are real doubts that the albeit younger Mick The Miller far side stand has the capacity to cope with a Derby final night crowd, which has been over 5,000 in recent years.

Even with the terracing either side, Wimbledon might be likely to reopen the main grandstand and the executive boxes underneath it to maximise profit for its most busy meetings.

"They are looking to have it turned around by March. But it will need a new winning line, photo finish equipment and stewards box and time might run out before the Derby," said one insider.

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The decision by the GRA to drop its Tuesday meetings next year, except for Sky nights and the heats of major competitions, underlines the general pattern of tracks concentrating on the more social Thursday/Friday/Saturday schedule.

"Peoples tend to go out closer to the weekend, and dog tracks are finding these are the most profitable meetings in generally tough times," said one general manager. "Meetings early in the week are only viable if you have BAGS, or live TV meetings."

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Sittingbourne returns to the BAGS service next month.

The Kent track was suspended after issues were raised around the betting ring after no SPs were returned on two races. However, following meetings, the track is back on the schedule.

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Jimmy Lollie continues to set the pace as the country's leading open-racer.
Seamus Cahill's speedster racked up his 21st sprint success in beating old rival Ballymac Pines to the punch over 285m at Hove on Sunday. The winner has the end-of-year National Sprint at Nottingham as a target.

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The race to be a part of the Betfair Trainers' Championship continues apace.
Mark Walllis is home and hosed as champion trainer and is being chased by Charlie Lister, Seamus Cahill and Barrie Draper. Dean Childs is edging Chris Allsopp and Paul Young for the remaining fourth, fifth and sixth places.

Last year's meeting on Sky saw Charlie Lister absolutely bolt in and take Betfair's prize-money haul.

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