Towcester

[Tony2005]

First meeting at this new track is on 6th December...


Live on SKY Sports............

[bennythedip2]

Mark Wallis

Over the years since Imperial Kennels first started we have been attached to six different tracks. Under my mother in law, the legendary Linda Jones, we have supplied graded runners to Swaffham, Mildenhall and Yarmouth before Linda's breakthrough into the big time when gaining a contract at Romford some twenty years ago. Over five years of continued success saw Linda gain the lucrative contract at Walthamstow and in 2000 and 2001 Linda landed the coveted Trainer Of The Year award. As Kennelhand, Head Kennelhand and Assistant Trainer from 1990 I personally have been delighted to have seen all the success Linda achieved which gave me a huge stepping stone when I took over the licence from Linda in 2005 as the Trainer. Our continued success on the track as been wonderful but with the closure of the magnificent Walthamstow we moved our operation to Harlow and upped the open race side of the business, then just over four years ago we made a move back to Yarmouth with in between a couple of brief stints at Coventry under a dual attachment and though still very successful there's no doubt financially without a big contract we have struggled to make it pay as the industry has fallen into crisis with poor prize money etc. This has been instrumental in my decision this week to take up the offer of a training contract at the new Towcester greyhound stadium set to open in early December.

Firstly, I have to say a massive thank you to Yarmouth, who have been our base for the last four years. I have the utmost respect for them, their professionalism on and off the track is first class. Nothing has been too much trouble for the Racing Office, Paddock Stewards and staff and the management team lead by Simon Franklin have been fantastic. We have won two of our five Trainer Of The Year awards and the Greyhound Derby whilst at Yarmouth and brought many of our stars on the track through the grades at Yarmouth most notably Blonde Reagan, Ayamzaman and Hometown Honey amongst many others. It will be a part of my training career I will always look back fondly on and we will still commit to helping Yarmouth in the Bags Championship which starts next Sunday at Doncaster and will leave some runners up until the end of the year to help them with their busy December and Christmas schedule.

Towcester are fully on track to begin trials around the second week of November and it goes without saying that I hope this seventh track in our kennel's history is going to be a huge success. Without a doubt no stone has been left unturned by the Towcester management, lead by Kevin Ackerman, to ensure that their venture into Greyhound Racing becomes a real shot in the arm the industry so much needs. Over the next few weeks I will give everyone an update on the progress of Towcester and our plans. We of course will have greyhounds available for sale to existing, new and old owners as well as syndicates including our Racing Club specifically for Towcester when it officially starts on December 6th. One of the concerns of many people is that the Greyhound track itself is too far away but I couldn't believe, now it's taking shape, how much it hits you in the face and the views from the stand will be superb. They will cater also for those people who like to get up close to the action and I really can't see there being any problem.

Me and several guests had a brilliant day last Wednesday at Towcester where their first horse race meeting took place. I bought the day at the races in the 'Give A Bit Back' auction on the golf day back in May which was kindly donated by Kevin Ackerman. This included a table of 10 in their magnificent restaurant in the Empress Stand and the prize also included race sponsorship in our website's name. A very decent crowd enjoyed a good day's racing and the highlight for me was taking my guests into the paddock to firstly judge the best turned out and then present the trophy to winning connections. The food served was first class and that's what diners will be treated to when the Greyhound racing commences. The hospitality boxes are also top class and the regular bars modern and spacious. The atmosphere is something money can't buy and I feel this will be sensational when the racing starts. On course bookmakers will offer generous odds when they know the racing is going to be competitive and with a brilliant line up of trainers and owners it really should be. Another incentive to join Towcester is their massive appetite for high class opens and competitions and in 2015 we could see many famous old competitions like the Pall Mall, Cesarewitch and Guineas return in a revamped way. This alone should see that we can still figure in the Trainer Of The Year title race especially as I will be vastly reducing the amount of open racing we have been committed to over the years. I will only look to concentrate on Category 1 and 2 competitions away from Towcester which will greatly help our finances with the reduced amount of travelling.

[bennythedip2]

Mark Wallis view

Towcester is still very much in the Greyhound news and we are counting the days down until the first trial session provisionally booked for around November 11th.

There are huge expectations for the Greyhound world of a gala meeting on the 13th but I think the first ever meeting on the 6th December should create massive interest. Talk of other tracks closing because of the opening of Towcester typifies the doom and gloom that our sport has faced over the last decade or so.

Surely it's time for other promoters to step up to the mark and take Towcester's lead in bringing our sport into this current century. I warned two years ago that unless something is radically changed many tracks would find both a shortage of Greyhounds and Trainers not to mention the owners who have been treated very poorly for far too long.

For some promoters closest to Towcester they may use them as an excuse to succumb to the property developers, sad but very true. On a plus side I hear some other Horse Racing tracks are looking very closely at what happens at Towcester.

To me the whole financial issues of our industry can go a long way to being resolved if we can cut a good deal with the rights to selling Greyhound racing pictures and live streaming abroad. One wonders though have we got the right people in charge to get the best deal possible for the industry.

Bennys view Well said Mark

[bennythedip2]

Saturday 6 December

Friday 12th December

Saturday 13th December

Friday 19th December

Saturday 20th December

Saturday 27th December

[bennythedip2]

Towcester greyhound card for Saturday is now up on Racing Post
(I cant copy and paste from that site)

[Part-Timer]

http://www.racingpost.com/greyhounds...6&meetingId=98

[bennythedip2]

Big crowd expected as Towcester prepares for greyhound racing debut

(by Mark Beesley [email protected])


A crowd of around 8,000 people is expected to flock to Towcester on Saturday night for the opening of the racecourse’s new greyhound track.


Admission is free for 12 races which promise to provide a feast of action which gets underway at 7.40pm, although the feature event is a £5,000 invitation over 480m andincludes Category One winners Any Dak and Fit To Win.

Included in that line-up are the Mark Wallis-trained Vanrooney who has proved the fastest over the 480m course so far (28.07 secs) in trials and Derby Plate winner Droopys Norris who has also advertised an immediate liking for the new venue, posting 28.23 seconds in slower conditions.

The opening of Towcester’s dog track is expected to generate huge interest around the county and beyond and represents a considerable achievement for racecourse chief executive Kevin Ackerman, for whom this has been a single-minded crusade for nigh on four years.

Towcester Racecourse owner Lord Hesketh acknowledged as much when he said: “This is the most exciting project I have ever been involved in. The entire team has been working its socks off but a special word has to go to Kevin Ackerman. He has been so tirelessly determined.”

Finishing touches on track lighting were being applied this week with a giant screen being erected... coming off a slow boat from China.

The breakdown of Saturday’s card entails nine open contests plus three graded events (with two eight-runner fields).

Towcester greyhound track manager Chris Page said: “We had a lot of interest surrounding this meeting although I did think there might have been more. However, we have already had indications that Saturday week for our Sky meeting is really capturing the imagination.”

Greyhound meetings will also take place on every Saturday evening during December and January and there will be Friday night slots on all bar Boxing Day, when the racecourse stages National Hunt racing getting underway at 12.30pm.

Salad Dodger, trained in Northamptonshire by Bruno Berwisk and the 16/1 shock winner of the Greyhound Derby at Wimbledon earlier in the year, is expected to make his comeback at Towcester early in the New Year.

[bennythedip2]

Glk tonight you guys who are going to the first meeting ..
Hope 'Vanrooney' T4 wins for Mark ..
Look out for the idiot protesters, I'm hearing they're expected to be there tonight

[bennythedip2]

So , were's Tony and PT today ..Thought we'd get all the 'Goss' about the opening night .. I've seen plenty of photo's and reports on facebook ..
No mention of you two or Mark ?

[taylormade]

marks away to Paris to play poker at aviation club .
tonys asleep after eating all the buffet.
part-timer is studying fixture list searching for mackems next goal or win.