Greyhound trainers cash in at Open Championship

Trainers Kim Billingham-Hine and Kevin Hutton are celebrating after grabbing £2,500 apiece at the end of the inaugural Monmore Open Championship.

Having taken place over the last 10 weeks, with points awarded in each Open race on Thursday nights, long-term Monmore handler Billingham-Hine topped the Home League with a whopping 553 points – Richie Taberner (383) the nearest challenger while Nathan Hunt (328) came third.

Former Monmore trainer Hutton, now based at Towcester, was the Away League victor having finished on 214 points and beaten both Mark Wallis (174) and ex-England rugby star turned greyhound trainer Michael Burton (105).

Designed to reward quality and consistency from April 9 until this past Thursday, June 11, Billingham-Hine and Hutton have earned a cool £2,500 for finishing first in their divisions, with those in second and third claiming £1,000 and £500 respectively.

The league winners will be presented with special trophies on the prestigious David Lipsey Trophy night at Monmore next week.

Billingham-Hine sealed the home league crown in style with a pair of Open winners.

The super-consistent Catchem Boyo took the Ladbrokes.com Dual Distance Sprint Final over the rarely-seen 210m trip in 12.44secs – just shy of the 12.34 track record set by Taberner’s Crossfield Larry back in 2023.

Catchem Boyo has now won five of his last six outings - all of them being Open races.

Wide runner Ivy Hill Viper also won for Billingham-Hine over the usual 264m sprint distance, beating Pat Doocey’s Longacres Danny by a short head.

Hutton did not have a winner on the away league on Thursday but did enough to hold onto top spot, with Dunstall Park’s Ruth Lambe the most impressive on the night as her two runners both won.

Da Mighty Man won in 28.46 over the standard 480m while Advantage Rule showed lovely pace to take a 480m Maiden later in the night in 28.40.Shaun Chappell (Valley) made the trip back home to Wales with a big smile on his face after 12/1 shot Simpson Sniper grabbed an all-the-way success over four bends.