All eyes will be on Max Picinelli’s Lyreen Mover when the traps go up in the William Hill Derby final over 480 metres at Wimbledon on Saturday.
Italian Picinelli, who has been a great supporter of Oxford racing over the last few years, faces his biggest day in greyhound racing when his fancied Mover could land a cool £75,000.
The Hungarian- based hound, has not been the fastest dog in the competition, but it says plenty for his sheer grit that he has been unbeaten in all of his five runs.
Toomaline Jack is a hot favourite to end Mover’s fine run, but it would be folly to bet against Picinelli's dog who is a 4-1 chance to land the booty.
Betting facilities are available on the big race at the Stadium where the showdown will be shown live on the big screen in the Sports Bar at 10.12 pm.
Also, look out for Freedom Emma who goes for the £1,000 Bitches Stakes.
Meanwhile, it could be the Italian owner’s swansong at Oxford, for trainer Tony Magnasco vacates the Shellgrove Farm kennels next week and is returning to his base at Milton Common.
Former Portsmouth trainer Phil Green is taking over the farm and with it most of Picinelli’s greyhounds.
Even though Green has applied to train at Oxford, he had to be turned down as there isn’t a vacancy.
It will probably mean that Green will join Swindon and run Picinelli’s hounds there.
Picinelli was a generous supporter of open races at Oxford and has enjoyed plenty of success with his Primo prefixed dogs.
l RACING manager Gary Baiden had his doubts about the success of the Stan James Pall Mall being run after the Derby, but not now after what he describes as the hottest entry in recent years.
Derby failures are among the hopefuls including raids by Irish trainers.
Closing date for the Pall Mall is Monday June 7, with the final on Tuesday June 22.
Hillcross Orion, Freedom Emma and Jolly Poacher are expected to be Oxford's entries.
l THE 1p meal is back from June 1.
Punters get a fast food meal and free admission, but must download the voucher from www.lovethedogs.com.
The deal ends on July 11.
l TRAINER MIchael Peterson, now dual attached with Hall Green, had three winners and a second in four inter-track races on Tuesday.
lA record 34 hopefuls trialled at Oxford before racing this week.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel