JIM CREMIN

Weblog: At large in the greyhound world

A pro that looks more Lister-like than girly

DIANE HENRY fears being typecast as some sort of  blonde bimbo, but her flapping background and professionalism reminded me more of Charlie Lister when I first met her during the Westmead Puppy Derby at Henlow last August.

This is one serious lady, and if anyone was in any doubt, they got a wake-up call when her Ten Large Down grabbed the Racing Post Juvenile Tuesday night through a decisive burst of pace.

Based Doncaster-way up the M1, owners Lee Greenacre and John Lynk were in tremendous form with Lynk delightedly telling Sky viewers of his “sexy” 66-1 williamhill.com Derby voucher.

However, it was only when I got home and reviewed my Sky tape did I realise quite how well Eye Onthe Storm had run to take third, and Newlawn Class endured two bumps - at the first and third, stumbling at the latter – when trying to get on terms with the leader.

Those incidents contributed to a slowly run race, but the manner of the winning performance was impressive.

Eyecatching too was the whirlwind finish of Shaws Dilemma who was still last approaching the final bend, and somehow grabbed second.

Angie Bowers of  Ladbrokes, the Racing Post/SIS Betting Shop Manager of the Year, handed over the trophy – and of course a cheque for £5,000 follows, and I’d imagine a few from some bookmakers too such was the joy in the Ten Large Down camp – a dog named after John Lynk ‘doing in’ ten large in a previous greyhound deal.

My night at Wimbledon started with a tour of the far side grandstand where racing transfers to Friday March 12.

Capacity is to be 3,100 which means the Derby final has to be all-ticket. 600 people can be seated with a view of the track, 240 of them dining. John Holloway, a regular I usually sit with in the old stand, is going to try and grab us seats Saturday week.

Another regular on big Sky nights is John Block who is 79, hails from Ickenham in Middx and has been attending Derby finals since 1949.

His reaction to the move, looking across, was that he feared there were insufficient outside seats. GM Keith Hallinan pledged a few more would be made available, but cited capacity issues. I’d suggest that was best dealt with on the turnstiles, rather than trying to corral punters into a downstairs area that felt more like a cellar.

That said, it should be cosier on quieter nights and busy ones will feel mobbed. Wimbledon need to get service delivery issues right too as they struggled to cope last Saturday when for instance they ran out of racecards. It will be unforgivable if the same happens this weekend, when there might even be a larger crowd expected on the last night of the old stand.

The two guys with the contract to do all the work in the new stand, Kenny Tyrer and Paul Smith, joined us for dinner Tuesday night [they had been working hard themselves over the far side right up to racing] and they are confident everything will be ship shape. We’ve invited them back to next year’s Racing Post Juvenile so we can have a debrief!

It was a joy to see the Mark Wallis-trained Jogadusc Ace run well, he was my British-bred Greyhound of the Year and I was disappointed my Greyhound Writers’ Association colleagues did not concur. He is a proper dog who is a punters’ favourite.

Another dog I like, Sleeping Urban, ran well as a massive price in the race before the big one. This snow white dog remains worthfollowing.

Jenny and George Richardson, who won our Greyhound of the Decade competition, made this presentation.

John Forster,Wimbledon’s clerk of the course, quickly dragged a second podium into action after the racingpost.com Members Club Stayers Trophy and Tony Clark handed one trophy over for Romeo Maldini, and his chum Chris Lucas did the honours for Fatboyz Zorro. The lads seemed  to have a great night.

My only gripe wasseeing a  sprint on the Sky card. It was there for variety purposes as the 480m trip was not in use due to preparations for the stand switch. Sprints are loved by purists, but are not TV events. At least the runners took the partially reshaped bend ok – more work follows.

Boherash Dee, who had over 100 races at Wimbledon for Bernie Doyle, took colleague Phil Donaldson’s eye for a special retired greyhound award – a number were on hand helping spread the message they make great pets. Now into her sixth year, and always a determined tracker, she looked in great shape

Barry Faulkner, the chief executive-elect of the Greyhound Board,  will have been pleased with his firstinterview on Sky. He came over well. No mention though of jackpots and exotic bets which is what the sport desperately needs in order to relaunch itself. That though, I’m sure, will come.

And Gary Newbon also interviewed Angie Bowers – who is an excellent Manager of the Year. She loves Cannizaro House where she stayed overnight.

Her next occasion is the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at Cheltenham – anyone interested in the forthcoming Festival MUST get themselves a copy of our preview book, £9.99, which Brough Scott waved during the Sky show. And then Ang is off to the Dubai World Cup.

She loved Wimbledon though, and reckons the new stand, which she was shown round too, will be a hit.

I’m next atMonmore Thursday for the Ladbrokes Puppy Derby heats – hope to see you there too.