Top trainers eye Monmore glory

An 18-dog Category Two competition, the Ladbrokes 480 Maiden will get under way this evening with three heats taking place.

The top two greyhounds from each of those will qualify for next weekend’s final, which will see the winner bag £3,000 in prize money.

Great Britain Greyhound Board (GBGB) champion trainer Mark Wallis, from Suffolk Downs, has Energize Tik in heat three of the competition.

Wallis also has dogs in heats for both the Ladbrokes Dual Distance and Ladbrokes 264, while the Ladbrokes 480 Bitches includes greyhounds from renowned trainers Patrick Janssens (Towcester) and Kevin Hutton (Oxford).

It promises to be an enthralling evening at Monmore, and assistant racing manager Jake Pain said: “There are a lot of quality races to look forward to.

“Romeo Command, of Patrick Janssens, is making his debut on these shores after cutting his teeth in Ireland and is one to look out for in the Ladbrokes 480 Maiden.

“Monmore locals Going Electric (Kim Billingham) and Dee Bee Earl (Christopher Fereday) regularly compete in our top A1 graded races and are both making the step up into the open category.

“Supporting the category two Maiden, we have a dual distance event which will see the heats take place over 480m before the final over 630m.

“Mark Wallis’s Antigua Sugar is sure to be a favourite with many ahead of the final over six bends, which is more her forte.”

“Our Bitches event should be exciting as there is quality throughout, while Wallis has another favourite in the 264m sprint in Gougane Jet, a dog who excels around Monmore and is the one for catching.

“The finals for all four events will take place next Saturday with a full supporting open card of high-class racing.”

Meanwhile, trainer Arran Dunn is representing Monmore as two of his dogs, Aero Squeak and Aero Dylan, compete in the semi-finals of the Premier Greyhound Racing Eclipse at Nottingham on Monday. The winner of the Category One competition receives £20,000.