[Tony2005]

No stunts: £250,000 hard cash reflects our passion

I’ve been sitting on a secret for the last few days that I’ve been bursting to tell people. And by now, you’ll know it.

Next year – and indeed the year after – we’ll be crowning a £250,000 winner of the William Hill Derby. For those that haven’t looked (and I have), that’s £12,000 more than Jezki picked-up for winning this year’s Champion Hurdle, and £50k more than the winner of the Queen Anne Stakes will scoop at Royal Ascot in ten days’ time.

Added to that, as again you’ll have read, we’re raising the second prize to £25,000 from £10,000, and the third prize to £10,000 from £6,000. Quite astonishing numbers.

I often mistakenly get the credit for the injection of cash that William Hill have put into the Derby in recent years. But to clear it up, it’s not me. I promise. It’s actually all about Ralph. Few will realise that our Scottish boss is a closet greyhound fan. So I’ll out him now.

I’m fairly certain he watched every round of the Derby [and I’d bet he punted a bit on it too]. He loves the sport and furthermore he loves an underdog, and I think we all realise that greyhound racing these days is often the underdog.

We love the game, we recognise that there are moments that it needs to shine. Just as it did last week. In glorious, unique fashion.

The £250,000. It’s not a stunt or a promotion, or increasing our market share. There is not commercially-driven justification. It’s simply about the passion we have at William Hill – from top to botton - for sport, and for greyhound racing.

Kate Miller