Saturday March 22nd 2025
It is fair to say Andrew Ashton’s first foray into owning a racing greyhound at Monmore Green could hardly have gone better.
Ashton has long been involved in the sport as a kennelhand for his uncle, Monmore trainer Brian Thompson and made the step into ownership midway through 2023 when purchasing Knock Beeswing for just a few hundred pounds.
Thought to be a decent D2/D3 sprinter, ‘Bee’ had the potential to prove good value for money – and she has turned out to be an absolute bargain.
So much so, in fact, that Knock Beeswing has just been named the Monmore Racing Office Graded Greyhound of the Year having recorded a whopping 16 victories throughout 2024 and won twice more in 2025.
“It’s a great feeling. I couldn’t have asked for any more from her,” said Ashton.
“Last year really was a great one for us, winning 16 races, and it’s been incredible to watch her develop into such a fantastic sprinter.
“I got for a few hundred pounds when (former Monmore trainer) Jane Meek retired. I thought she’d just be a D2/D3 level and a nice little bitch to have, being my first as an owner.
“She had a little injury at the back end of 2023, and we brought her back in February 2024, with a few more kilos on her, and she’s never looked back.
“She won a D3 and then by the end of the year, she was regularly winning in D1 and had seven Open victories as well.
“Bee gets a lot of attention and likes on social media whenever she wins a race; she’s gained a bit of a following and I had a lot of nice messages from people for winning this award which was lovely.
“She’s carried her form into this year with two D1 victories and a couple of second places in Opens. She always tends to be in the top three as she’s just such an honest, consistent greyhound.
“We may take her on the road again to Nottingham at some point as it would be nice to win an Open elsewhere, but she’s just so amazing at Monmore. Fingers crossed, there’ll be some good Open races over the next few months here and she can get a few more wins under her belt.”
Knock Beeswing is due to have a special presentation photo on the podium with a personalised trophy and jacket next weekend.
Also recognised by the Monmore Racing Office for 2024 were the two greyhounds who had the most graded wins, Swift Fagan (trained by Thompson, owned by Berryhill W.M.C) and Outer Limits (Kim Billingham-Hine, Mr M.L Sweeney) who both achieved a whopping 14 victories.
Aero Peart (Chris Fereday, Miss K.L Hampton) earned the most runs gong having had 57 races over the course of the year, winning 11.
The Monmore Green Owners’ Association have also named their Dog and Bitch of the Year. Richie Taberner duo Coologue Pest and Hawk – owned by Arcadian Racing and Fantastic Foxes respectively – grabbed those awards. Coologue Pest won 10 A1s in 2024 while Hawk managed an impressive 11 from 25 outings.
Swift Fagan runs tonight as Monmore hold a special fundraiser for greyhound homing charity Home Run Hounds, with several retired greyhounds able for racegoers to meet and give a fuss.
Tuesday March 18th 2025
A remarkable Premier Greyhound Racing Puppy Derby final saw the unbeaten Headford Dane seal a first Category One success at Monmore for trainer Maxine Locke.
The £20,000 showpiece event this past weekend was widely expected to be won by the Mark Wallis-trained Rackethall Brute, who went in odds-on having set the quickest times in both the first round and semi-finals.
But Headford Dane - the youngest greyhound in the field who had also won his two races in the build-up to the final - took the spoils in 28.09secs having finished one-and-a-half lengths clear of the favourite, who put in a valiant effort after missing the break.
The triumph had been a while coming for Romford-based handler Locke who has made several major finals at Monmore in recent years.
“A big congratulations goes to Maxine and owners, the JR Racing Syndicate after a brilliant run from Headford Dane to become the 2025 Puppy Derby champion” said Monmore deputy racing manager Jake Pain.
“It’s a first Category One success here for the kennel and thoroughly deserved as they’ve been knocking on the door for a while.
“Headford Dane was an unknown quantity coming into the competition having not raced beforehand, but he won all three of his races and looks to have a fine future ahead of him.
“Maxine and the team deserve a lot of credit. They’re a kennel very much on the up with some fantastic greyhounds.”
Monmore trainer Nathan Hunt will hope Avas Superstar, litter sister of Headford Dane, can also shine in the months to come.
Also on the evening were three Category Three finals – the first of those seeing Monmore pay tribute to former racing manager Jim Woods.
The Jim Woods Memorial Trophy, held over 630m, was won by Wallis and the MWD Partnership’s New Destiny in a flying 37.30secs.
The Ladbrokes.com 264 saw Guzzler prevail for Hove trainer Belinda Green.
The Ladbrokes.com 480 was won by prolific ‘home’ dog Vixons Filofax, one of the very best currently on the card at Monmore, for Brian Thompson and Vixon Contracts Ltd.
Saturday 15th March 2025
One of the ‘most exciting young dogs seen in a long time’ looks to clinch the Premier Greyhound Racing Puppy Derby crown at Monmore tonight.
Rackethall Brute was the quickest greyhound in both the first-round heats and semi-finals, so it is no surprise that he is the odds-on favourite to land the £20,000 prize for trainer Mark Wallis and owners the MWD Partnership.
Victory this evening would seal a second straight Category One success at Monmore for Wallis & Co after Proper Heiress ran a blinder to triumph in the Ladbrokes Winter Derby last month and, surprisingly, it would be a first Puppy Derby success for the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) champion trainer.
Wallis has another greyhound in tonight’s main event in Ballinakill Liam while Romford handler Maxine Locke boasts both Headford Dane and Ballymac Kobe.
Swindon trainer and owner Patrick Godfrey has outsider Arthur Job, and Newcastle’s Raymond Hale has Swift Bullseye.
“It’s a cracking final full of quality,” said Monmore racing manager Tony Williamson.
“I think the Wallis pup, Rackethall Brute is one of the most exciting young dogs I’ve seen in a long time.
“He has track craft and is very impressive. If he runs like he has done over the past couple of weeks, it will be difficult for anyone to catch him but they’re all in the final on merit.
“We look forward to crowning this year’s Puppy Derby champion - good luck to all connections.”
Monmore’s Puppy Derby dates all the way back to 1943 and is often seen as a springboard to the sport’s biggest competition, the English Greyhound Derby – held at Towcester in recent years – which takes place in the summer.
It will be a first Puppy Derby triumph for whichever trainer boasts the winner. Locke probably has the best chance of usurping Wallis’ Rackethall Brute with either Ballymac Kobe or Headford Dane – the latter also winning in both the first-round heats and semi-finals.
Also on the card tonight are three Category Three finals. The Ladbrokes.com 264 contains three local hopes in Knock Beeswing (Brian Thompson), Tommys Target (Kim Billingham-Hine) and Serene Highway (Richie Taberner).
Vixons Filofax (Thompson) and Untold Paanga (Nathan Hunt) are among the contenders in the Ladbrokes.com 480 while Wallis has three in the Jim Woods Memorial Trophy final – New Destiny the favourite.
The Jim Woods Memorial is run in memory of Monmore’s former racing manager and Williamson, who succeeded him in the role, added: “Jim was one of the best racing managers greyhound racing has ever had and is always much missed and remembered fondly by us here at Monmore.
“He’d have taken great delight in the quality of his own race - I think it’s the best we’ve had for the Jim Woods Memorial Trophy.”
Saturday 8th March 2025
Monmore trainer Nathan Hunt hopes Carmac Pete can upset the odds once more as the Premier Greyhound Racing Puppy Derby semi-finals take place tonight.
Carmac Pete is the only local hope left in the prestigious Category One competition, which is worth £20,000 to the winner, after six thrilling first-round heats.
The wide runner – who boasts two wins from seven career runs so far - is a rank outsider with bookmakers in terms of going all the way (as high as 100/1) but advanced from what appeared to be the strongest of the last weekend’s heats with a third-place finish.
And with the first two from the semi-finals qualifying for next week’s showpiece, Hunt is not ruling anything out.
“He did run well in what was a very hot heat. I had given him a week off heading into it just to freshen him up as he hadn’t been trapping in his couple of races before that,” said Hunt.
“He’s certainly benefitted from the milder climate over the last couple of weeks and getting some sun on his back.
“I think he can trap better than he did last weekend, which he’ll need to do to have any chance of qualifying.
“He’s got a slim chance which is reflected in his price, but he’ll be there trying his best and I’m hopeful he’ll continue to get better heading into the summer months.
“It’s great to still be involved in such a prestigious competition, the best puppy competition in the country in my opinion.
“We’d proud to be the last local hope left and it would be a great achievement to make the final.”
Carmac Pete was a 33/1 shot in last week’s heat, with the 10/11 favourite Droopys Berries (Kevin Hutton, Oxford) finishing second behind 20/1 winner Dark Madam (Seamus Cahill, Hove).
Romeo Tomcat (Patrick Janssens, Towcester) was the ante-post favourite for the competition but finished last in that race having been crowded out at the first bend.
Tonight sees Carmac Pete take on three heat winners in Rackethall Brute (Mark Wallis, Unattached) – the quickest last week in 28.10secs – Droopys Aladdin (Michael Burton, Valley) and Jacktavern Chief (David Byrne, Irish), so it is another sizeable challenge to overcome.
Dark Madam is in the second semi-final while the third has the two other winners from last week, Droopys Invent (Cahill) and Headford Dane (Maxine Locke, Romford) in traps one and three respectively.
Also tonight, the annual Jim Woods Memorial Trophy gets under way. The competition is run over 630m in tribute to Monmore’s long-serving former racing manager and sees superstar New Destiny (Wallis) look to add another trophy to her extensive haul.
New Destiny remarkably won three Category One events last year in the form of the Challenge Cup at Oxford and both the Coronation Cup and Champion Stakes at Romford.
Saturday 1st March 2025
Monmore Green goes straight from one major competition to another as the Premier Greyhound Racing Puppy Derby kicks off at the track tonight.
The Ladbrokes Winter Derby culminated in superb style last weekend as Proper Heiress ran the second-fastest 480m time ever seen at the Wolverhampton circuit (27.59secs), clinching the £10,000 prize for trainer Mark Wallis and owners MWD Partnership.
Now, it is the turn of the pups, with 36 born in April 2023 onwards going for a cool £20,000 including an interesting entry from over the Irish sea.
Six heats take place this evening and three will qualify from each for next week’s semi-finals.
The first heat takes place at 6.31pm and sees the well-fancied Droopys Aladdin, trained by former England rugby star Mike Burton, run from trap one.
Trap two, Ballymac Kobe (Maxine Locke, Romford) was the runner-up in the English Puppy Derby final at Towcester at the back end of last year while trap five, Signet Morgan (Kevin Hutton, Oxford) is one of two British-bred greyhounds involved.
Just two Monmore trainers are in the competition with Richie Taberner and Nathan Hunt having Newinn Deputy and Carmac Pete respectively running tonight.
Newinn Deputy goes out in the second heat aiming to build on his three Open race victories to date, and Wombourne-based handler Taberner is excited to see how he goes.
“Deputy’s one of several Droopys Sydney pups involved in the Puppy Derby and he’s certainly got ability,” said Taberner.
“We’re thinking the Puppy Derby may have come around a couple of months too soon, but you never know, and he’s got a perfect draw having trap five.
“The realistic aim for us is to try to get through to the semi-finals, so if we can do that we’d be over the moon. Fingers crossed we can get through to next week.”
Heat three has two greyhounds who made the recent Northern Puppy Derby final at Newcastle in Yahoo Maizy (Locke) and Swift Bullseye (Raymond Hale, Newcastle), while heat four looks to have the most quality on show.
Both the bookmakers’ competition favourite Romeo Tomcat (Patrick Janssens, Towcester) and second-favourite Droopys Berries (Kevin Hutton, Oxford) are involved, along with Santas Amigo (David Mullins, Romford) who has two wins from two starts at Monmore. Hunt’s Carmac Pete appears to have his work cut out.
In heat five is Jacktavern Chief of Irish trainer David Byrne, making his British bow having last run competitively at Dublin’s Shelbourne Park last month.
Heat six contains the most experienced dog in the competition, Easy Maximus (Gwyneth Rees, Sheffield) who has 21 runs and three victories to his name.
Monday 24th February 2025
One of the most amazing runs ever seen at Monmore saw Proper Heiress claim the 2025 Ladbrokes Winter Derby crown for trainer Mark Wallis.
The £10,000 final this past weekend was a formality by the first bend as bookmakers' favourite Heiress shot out of the boxes and went on to clock a stunning time of 27.59secs.
That is the second-fastest time ever recorded over the 480m distance at the Wolverhampton track - Ballymac Eske setting the track record in 2012 in 27.48secs and many feeling that would never be threatened.
Second-placed Gary The Arb (Belinda Green, Hove) ran a fine race but still ended up more than five lengths behind the MWD Partnership-owned champion, who led from start to finish.
Wallis, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) champion trainer, now adds a first Winter Derby to his extensive trophy haul while this weekend sees another Category One competition begin at Monmore in the form of the Premier Greyhound Racing Puppy Derby.
Monmore racing manager Tony Williamson said: "It was a sublime performance from Proper Heiress to become our 2025 Winter Derby champion.
"Runs like that come about very rarely in greyhound racing and it was certainly an emphatic way to win the final.
"It was a brilliant night on the whole with the Gone To The Dogs LIVE broadcast team putting on a fantastic show which you can still watch back on YouTube.
"Congratulations again to trainer Mark Wallis and the MWD Partnership as we now look forward to the start of the Puppy Derby."
Saturday 22nd February 2025
A star-studded final featuring six of the very best greyhounds Britain has to offer takes place at Monmore Green tonight.
The 2025 Ladbrokes Winter Derby culminates at the Wolverhampton track this evening – the main event on the 12-race card coming at 8.31pm – and will see £10,000 awarded to the victor.
Gary The Arb (Belinda Green, Hove), Aayamza Sydney (John Mullins, Towcester), Droopys Pivotel (Maxine Locke, Romford), Proper Heiress (Mark Wallis), Droopys Suprstar (Michael Burton, Valley) and Nowitsmyturn (Richard Rees, Hove) are the dogs going for the coveted prize.
“It’s a brilliant final featuring six top-class greyhounds competing for the £10,000 prize and the status of the Ladbrokes Winter Derby final winner for 2025,” said Monmore racing manager Tony Williamson.
“All of them are worthy winners, but likely favourite Proper Heiress trained by champion trainer Mark Wallis has the potential to lead throughout and will be difficult to catch.
“The supporting card is strong and features super stayer Droopys Clue making his return to the track. The 2023 greyhound of the year is fabulous to watch and does not have an easy race on his return.
“It’s a brilliant night of racing to look forward to.”
Taking a closer look at each of tonight’s finalists, Gary The Arb fared best in terms of the trap draw – getting the one box – and has excelled at Monmore over the past month or so, winning four of his last five appearances at the track.
Aayamza Sydney is the most experienced greyhound in the race and, incredibly, this is his eighth Category One final appearance while Droopys Pivotel looks to seal five victories on the spin at Monmore this evening.
Proper Heiress is the bookmakers’ favourite for a reason and possesses brilliant early pace, but surprise package Droopys Suprstar and the determined Nowitsmyturn are not to be ruled out either.
Monmore is expecting its largest crowd so far this year for the event, which is being broadcast live by Gone To The Dogs on YouTube and X/Twitter with an extensive on-track presenting team from 6.30pm.
Monmore’s Summer Stayers Classic champion from last year, Droopys Clue (Seamus Cahill, Hove) runs in race five alongside the runner-up from that race, Queen Georgia (Elizabeth McNair (Central Park).
Last year’s Monmore Gold Cup champion, Churchfield Syd (Rees) is in race six against a quality field including McNair’s King Memphis.
Saturday 15th February 2025
A former England rugby star turned successful greyhound trainer is hoping to book his place in a major final at Monmore Green.
Mike Burton was capped 17 times by England in the 1970s and played for the British and Irish Lions, while also making 360 appearances at club level to cement legendary status at Gloucester.
Having had a strong interest in greyhounds for several decades, he branched out on his own as a trainer a couple of years ago – his graded runners being at The Valley in Wales.
Tonight sees him take Droopys Suprstar into one of three Ladbrokes Winter Derby semi-finals at Monmore on the back of a brilliant last-to-first victory in first-round heats last weekend.
Suprstar has the benefit of being drawn in trap one while many of the competition’s other greyhounds – ‘railers’ by trade who would prefer to run out of trap one or two – are having to contend with starting from wider boxes as they aim to seal a spot in next week’s £10,000 final.
The September 22’ dog has won his last two appearances at Monmore but will not have it easy as Queen Georgia, who is now the bookmakers’ favourite to go all the way in the Winter Derby, runs from trap two for Elizabeth McNair (Central Park) having set the quickest time last weekend.
Droopys Extragud (Heather Dimmock, Towcester), the only remaining local hope in Nathan Hunt’s Scooby The Boss and Proper Heiress (Mark Wallis) are the others competing in the first semi-final which goes off at 6.48pm.
The second semi-final comes at 7.22pm and sees Gary The Arb – the most eye-catching performer in recent weeks at the Wolverhampton track – have to make do with a run from trap four for Hove’s Belinda Green.
Should he perform at the same level shown as of late, he should avoid any potential trouble at the first bend, but Millbank Boiler (Gemma Evans, Romford) also won well in the first round.
The final semi-final contains the only middle seed remaining in the competition, Keefill Rocky trained by Doncaster’s Philip Milner.
If he was to finish in the top two and progress to the final, he would be guaranteed the six box again – but Droopys Pivotel (Maxine Locke, Romford) and Nowitsmyturn (Richard Rees, Hove) are ones to keep an eye on as well.
The Winter Derby final next week will be broadcast live on YouTube by Gone to the Dogs with an on-course presenting team, commentary of all the races and trackside interviews happening throughout the night.
Saturday 8th February 2025
Monmore trainer Nathan Hunt is excited to see how things go as he takes two greyhounds into a star-studded Ladbrokes Winter Derby first round tonight.
The Winter Derby is Monmore’s first major competition of 2025 and sees 36 of Britain’s very best dogs vying for the £10,000 prize, with this evening’s card the strongest the Wolverhampton track has had for several months at least.
Hunt – now solely training at Monmore having had his last runners at sister track Romford earlier this week – takes both Scooby The Boss and Clona Stand into the Category One event.
Scooby The Boss runs in the second of the night’s six heats and needs a top three finish to get through to next week’s semi-finals. Clona Stand goes from trap five in the fifth heat.
“Clona Stand has done well for us so far, winning three of four races, and even managed to win Category Three competitions at both Hove and Monmore already,” said Hunt.
“He’s got good Irish form as well, but this will be a step up in class for him.
“We’ve seeded him as a middle runner and there’s a lot of railers in the competition, so if he can get through the first round, he should be able to get a decent trap draw for the semi-finals.
“If he can get away nice and early, he’s got a good chance.
“Scooby The Boss has only had one race with us but managed to win that and has run superbly in trials. He also did well back in Ireland.
“He’s probably our best chance of success and trap two suits him for this race, although Millbank Boiler inside of him has lots of early pace too.
“We’re solely at Monmore now and it would be nice to do well in the Winter Derby on the back of that.
“It’s a seriously hot competition and we’re excited to see how our boys do.”
Heat One gets the event started with a bang as Gary The Arb (Belinda Green, Hove) takes on Links Maverick (Tom Heilbron, Newcastle) in what will be a thrilling battle to the first bend.
Gary The Arb ran a flying time of 27.71secs at Monmore a few weeks ago – the quickest achieved since Links Maverick’s 27.70 in the summer of 2023.
Another Monmore hope involved in heat one is Kim Billingham-Hine’s Toolmaker Note who won in fine fashion last weekend.
Billingham-Hine also has Phoenix Posh, with three wins from her last four outings, taking part in heat two alongside Hunt’s Scooby The Boss.
A tough-to-call heat three is followed by a tasty fourth heat containing last year’s Ladbrokes Gold Cup champion Churchfield Syd (Richard Rees, Hove) and another super-consistent performer in El Tornillo (David Lee, Crayford). Proper Heiress (Mark Wallis) is also well-fancied by bookmakers.
Two Monmore trainers in Brian Thompson and Pat Doocey have one representative each as Vixons Filofax and Longacres Magic go out in heat five and six respectively.
Filofax has arguably been Monmore’s standout Open-class dog over the last 12 months but has been limited to trials as of late while Magic has been in fine fettle with two firsts and a second over the past few weeks.
Magic, however, does go up against some elite operators including last year’s Summer Stayers Classic runner-up Queen Georgia (Elizabeth McNair, Central Park) and Coolavanny Mercy (Angela Harrison, Newcastle).
Saturday 1st February 2025
A stellar card sees 27 trainers all descend on Monmore Green tonight as part of a final effort to get into the Ladbrokes Winter Derby.
The prestigious Winter Derby – which is worth £10,000 to the winner and the Wolverhampton track’s first Category One event this year – gets underway next weekend.
This evening sees six trial stakes take place with a fine performance going a long way to ensuring a place in the 36-dog competition.
Jake Pain, assistant racing manager at Monmore, said: “We’re really looking forward to the racing this weekend with 11 high-quality Open races on the card.
“Six of those are trial stakes for the Winter Derby while there’s also three Puppy races in view of the Premier Greyhound Racing Puppy Derby which begins in early March, as well as both a 264m sprint and 630m stayers’ race.
“We also have some top-class greyhounds trialling and, with all things considered, we’re expecting over 50 entries for the Winter Derby.
“It’s always a difficult process leaving dogs out, but we’re excited to see who performs well as we welcome some of the best trainers and greyhounds around this weekend.”
The main event of the night is race 11 at 9.23pm featuring the bang-in-form Gary The Arb.
Trained by Hove’s Belinda Green, he has won in consecutive weeks at Monmore with the first of those coming in a flying 27.71secs – the quickest 480m winning time since that managed by Tom Heilbron’s Links Maverick in the summer of 2023.
John Mullins’ Aayamza Sydney, in trap three, has gone deep in Category One competitions previously though while David Lee’s El Tornillo, in six, is a consistent performer.
Among the local hopes is Longacres Magic who aims to make it a hat-trick of Open victories in race nine (8.47pm) for Walsall-based Monmore handler Pat Doocey.
The two-year-old dog has enjoyed a purple patch as of late, winning five of his last six outings, and a similar display should be enough to earn a place in the Winter Derby field.
Kim Billingham-Hine’s Phoenix Posh runs from trap one in the same race and could well be another ‘home dog’ to make the cut despite not having a wealth of experience.
Billingham-Hine also has two new recruits making their British debuts, with Droopys Expected and Toolmaker Note going for glory in race four and eight respectively.
Another local Winter Derby hopeful, Aero Pattika runs in race six for Richie Taberner aiming to replicate his triumph from a few weeks ago.
Saturday 25th January 2025
Gary The Arb looks to reproduce one of the most stunning runs seen in recent years at Monmore Green in Open race action this evening.
The July 2022 dog, handled by the Hove-based Belinda Green, wowed racegoers last weekend with a super-fast winning time of 27.71secs over the standard 480m trip.
That was the quickest clock since August 2023 when prolific competition winner Links Maverick went around in 27.70secs and bodes well for the Ladbrokes Winter Derby which begins in a fortnight.
Tonight’s test for Gary The Arb sees him run from his preferred box, trap one in the 8.13pm Ladbrokes.com 480 Division One.
Should he produce a repeat of last weekend, it is very difficult to see him getting beat but there are some classy operators in the race including Kilara Roberto who made last year’s Monmore Gold Cup final for Richard Rees (Hove).
Kim Billingham-Hine’s Phoenix Posh is the novice of the field but won his first Open in impressive fashion last weekend.
Just later on is a Category Three sprint final which sees Gary The Arb’s kennelmates Bombout Bullet and Guzzler go for glory.
There are two local hopes as well, with Richie Raberner’s Maughera Ace having won his heat last Saturday night and Vixons Hope (Brian Thompson) qualified having finished second in his heat behind Guzzler.
The Ladbrokes.com 480 Division Two has Longacres Magic aiming to make it three wins in a row for Monmore trainer Pat Doocey.
Another Doocey dog, Hilton Wolf is involved in the Ladbrokes.com 480 Division Three along with Billingham-Hine’s Do Gooder who did well to recover from a slow start and finish third last time out – the race that Gary The Arb dominated.
The Ladbrokes.com 480 Maiden sees three pups have their first-ever British race with the veteran of the field being Taberner’s wide runner Serene Warrior, who has 18 races and three graded wins under his belt up to yet.
Finally tonight, Craig Marston has two dogs looking to make it three wins in succession in graded races.
Heathers Charm and Ranches Chancer look to make it a hat-trick in race one and four respectively.
Saturday 18th January 2025
Monmore trainer Richie Taberner has one eye on next month’s Ladbrokes Winter Derby as Aero Pattika competes in a high-quality Category Three final this evening.
Pattika won in impressive fashion last weekend for the Wombourne-based Taberner to make tonight’s Ladbrokes.com 480 showpiece (8.47pm), worth £1,000 to the winner.
The race acts as something of a warm-up for the prestigious Winter Derby – a 36-greyhound competition and one of four Category One events held at Monmore annually – which gets underway on February 8th.
That event will see a cool £10,000 awarded to the victor and Taberner hopes Pattika can be involved having previously shone over shorter distances.
“Pattika is a class animal and has Derby quality pace to 450m. We’re just hoping now that he’s two years old he’s got that bit more stamina,” said Taberner on Pattika, who made the National Sprint final at Nottingham at the back end of 2024.
“If he can mature into a proper 480m dog, he will be a big player for all major competitions over four bends.
“Hopefully, he can give the Aero Racing Syndicate a bit of silverware to enjoy by winning this final.”
Pattika, who turned two last September, has 40 races under his belt and won 14 of those, with seven second-place finishes as well.
He runs from trap three tonight while fellow Monmore handler Nathan Hunt has Clona Stand in six - the rest of the field coming from away trainers.
Ahead of next month’s Winter Derby, Taberner also has Coologue Pest and Aero Becks showing promise over four bends.
They both run this evening as well, with Pest in the Ladbrokes.com 480 Division One and Becks in the Ladbrokes.com 480 Division Three. They are the last and first races on tonight’s card respectively.
“Pest only raced A1 and Open races throughout 2024 at Monmore and that’s special, staying at the top for 12 months. He won 12 races along the way as well,” added Taberner.
“He’s a bang railer and needs trap one in an ideal world, but if he can get across from trap three with a fast exit and lead at the first bend, he will be tough to beat.
“Becks has a tremendous strike rate and a real will to win.
“She’s excelled on both the graded and Open race circuit for owners Rachael Biggs and Nick Clifford who are very proud.”
Also tonight, a Category Three sprint competition gets underway with three heats – two dogs advancing from each to next week’s final. Brian Thompson’s super-consistent Knock Beeswing is among those involved.
Kim Billingham-Hine’s Phoenix Posh hopes to impress in the Ladbrokes.com 480 Maiden while Jonis Taxi steps up for Gary Griffiths in the Ladbrokes.com 630 Maiden.
Pat Doocey pair Longacres Drip and Hilton Wolf look to do the business in the Ladbrokes.com 630 and Ladbrokes.com 480 Division Two respectively.
Saturday 11th January 2025
Kim Billingham-Hine prospect Do Gooder looks to get a big victory under his belt as Monmore hosts its first set of Open races this year.
With Monmore’s first Category One competition of 2025, the Ladbrokes Winter Derby on the horizon, trainers from across the country are taking their dogs to Monmore tonight in a bid to get them in the groove.
Billingham-Hine’s Do Gooder runs in the Ladbrokes.com 480 Maiden (7.06pm) and has been highlighted as a greyhound to keep an eye out for this year by industry experts.
He made the English Puppy Derby final at Towcester in November and had some strong showings in Open races at Nottingham as well.
Do Gooder goes from trap five and won his last start at Monmore, albeit that was an A3 graded race back on October 24th.
Tonight also sees two heats take place in the Category Three Ladbrokes.com 480 competition – three qualifying from each heat for next week’s final.
Having made the National Sprint Final at Nottingham at the back end of 2024, Richie Taberner’s Aero Pattika steps back up to the four-bend trip and competes alongside kennelmate Amazing Hulk in the first heat (7.06pm).
Arthur Crumpet (Patrick Godfrey, Swindon) has impressed previously at Monmore, though, while Nathan Hunt pup Kohinoor Spinner could be in for a bright future.
Another new Hunt recruit, wide runner Clona Stand is worth a look in heat two (7.56pm) although widely respected trainer Belinda Green (Hove) has both Aghaburren Milly and Miami Sapphire in the race.
Pat Doocey’s Hilton Wolf, however, is the one with by far the most experience at Monmore which could stand him in good stead.
William Russell railer Magical Bertie steps up to the six-bend trip for the Ladbrokes.com 630 (8.13pm) having won twice over 500m at Nottingham before.
Arguably the strongest Open race of the evening is the last one, the Ladbrokes.com 264 sprint at 8.47pm.
Both Alien Bolt (Taberner) and Newinn Souly (Billingham-Hine) were involved in the aforementioned National Sprint final while Russell’s Magical Bluebear is a former Category One winner, having claimed the Kent Silver Salver at Central Park last summer.
Perhaps an even better pick than all of those, though, is Green’s Bombout Bullet who had the quickest sprint time of any dog at Monmore in 2024 – a flying 15.15secs last February.
