Mark Wallis’s Eye Onthe Storm is looking good ahead of the Williamhill.com Derby
The Williamhill.com Derby is now less than three weeks away - trainers have been busy trialing their best at the new Plough Lane track and have already started to shake up the odds with impressive times being clocked across the 480m.
Mark Wallis won the premier Classic with Kinda Ready last year who clocked 28.65secs to land the £100,000 prize - unfortunately for the champion trainer, Ready will not be able to defend his crown this year after failing to recover from an injury he sustained at Doncaster trials a week before the Betfair Trainers’ Championship last month.
On an upside, Wallis still holds market leader Eye Onthe Storm who is yet to trial at Plough Lane but has continued to impress as he recently bagged the Stanjames Blue Riband final in record-breaking time. As a result, he's had his odds hardened by sponsors William Hill.
Storm can be backed at 7-1, which is a great return considering the form he is in - he will be a hard dog to beat and has so far this year only faced defeat once in seven races.
Adageo has clocked the fastest time for Wallis in trials so far, 28.66secs. The d**k and Anne Barfoot's owned dog was joined by Eye Onthe Flash last week, who also looked in good form clocking 28.84secs.
The champion trainer will surely be trialing more dogs at Plough Lane, as this week sees entries close for the prestigious competition.
Wallis’s arch rival Charlie Lister also returns after failing to secure any silverware in both the Blue Riband and Bettor.com Scottish Derby. He was unfortunate to miss out in claiming the Betfair Trainer’s Championship, and will be seeking revenge as Wallis took the competition from his clutches by two points.
Lister gave a total of 10 hopefuls a chance to flex their muscles yesterday morning in trials. Bandicoot Tipkoki clocked the best time of 28.64secs and can be backed at 20-1.
The nine other Derby aspirants put through their paces yesterday all clocked times of 0.16secs within the time of Tipoki and consist of strong runners including Jordansoilution and Yahoo Jamie.
Troys Expert is new to the game and is looking good on the track - setting a time of 28.70secs, he might be one to keep an eye out for this year.
Overall, the competition is boasted to be the best, and will produce a strong field to put each dog through its paces. However, William Hill have had to slash the first prize down to £75,000.
Clive Feltham, managing director of the Greyhound Racing Association, said: “With £75,000 to the winner, the Derby still remains a massive prize and it reflects the tougher environment facing everyone in Britain and Ireland.”
Hills’ also announced that they will be making a pay-out of a £25,000 bonus if the winner of the Derby goes on to land a victory at the William Hill Classic at Sunderland, while a further £50,000 will be applied if the winner goes on to produce a treble, winning The William Hill All England Cup at Newcastle.
The Wimbledon Derby is scheduled to start on April 29th. In the mean time you can catch the Bettor.com Scottish Derby Final live on Sky Sports 4 on April 17th.
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