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Mark Wallis

Over the years since Imperial Kennels first started we have been attached to six different tracks. Under my mother in law, the legendary Linda Jones, we have supplied graded runners to Swaffham, Mildenhall and Yarmouth before Linda's breakthrough into the big time when gaining a contract at Romford some twenty years ago. Over five years of continued success saw Linda gain the lucrative contract at Walthamstow and in 2000 and 2001 Linda landed the coveted Trainer Of The Year award. As Kennelhand, Head Kennelhand and Assistant Trainer from 1990 I personally have been delighted to have seen all the success Linda achieved which gave me a huge stepping stone when I took over the licence from Linda in 2005 as the Trainer. Our continued success on the track as been wonderful but with the closure of the magnificent Walthamstow we moved our operation to Harlow and upped the open race side of the business, then just over four years ago we made a move back to Yarmouth with in between a couple of brief stints at Coventry under a dual attachment and though still very successful there's no doubt financially without a big contract we have struggled to make it pay as the industry has fallen into crisis with poor prize money etc. This has been instrumental in my decision this week to take up the offer of a training contract at the new Towcester greyhound stadium set to open in early December.

Firstly, I have to say a massive thank you to Yarmouth, who have been our base for the last four years. I have the utmost respect for them, their professionalism on and off the track is first class. Nothing has been too much trouble for the Racing Office, Paddock Stewards and staff and the management team lead by Simon Franklin have been fantastic. We have won two of our five Trainer Of The Year awards and the Greyhound Derby whilst at Yarmouth and brought many of our stars on the track through the grades at Yarmouth most notably Blonde Reagan, Ayamzaman and Hometown Honey amongst many others. It will be a part of my training career I will always look back fondly on and we will still commit to helping Yarmouth in the Bags Championship which starts next Sunday at Doncaster and will leave some runners up until the end of the year to help them with their busy December and Christmas schedule.

Towcester are fully on track to begin trials around the second week of November and it goes without saying that I hope this seventh track in our kennel's history is going to be a huge success. Without a doubt no stone has been left unturned by the Towcester management, lead by Kevin Ackerman, to ensure that their venture into Greyhound Racing becomes a real shot in the arm the industry so much needs. Over the next few weeks I will give everyone an update on the progress of Towcester and our plans. We of course will have greyhounds available for sale to existing, new and old owners as well as syndicates including our Racing Club specifically for Towcester when it officially starts on December 6th. One of the concerns of many people is that the Greyhound track itself is too far away but I couldn't believe, now it's taking shape, how much it hits you in the face and the views from the stand will be superb. They will cater also for those people who like to get up close to the action and I really can't see there being any problem.

Me and several guests had a brilliant day last Wednesday at Towcester where their first horse race meeting took place. I bought the day at the races in the 'Give A Bit Back' auction on the golf day back in May which was kindly donated by Kevin Ackerman. This included a table of 10 in their magnificent restaurant in the Empress Stand and the prize also included race sponsorship in our website's name. A very decent crowd enjoyed a good day's racing and the highlight for me was taking my guests into the paddock to firstly judge the best turned out and then present the trophy to winning connections. The food served was first class and that's what diners will be treated to when the Greyhound racing commences. The hospitality boxes are also top class and the regular bars modern and spacious. The atmosphere is something money can't buy and I feel this will be sensational when the racing starts. On course bookmakers will offer generous odds when they know the racing is going to be competitive and with a brilliant line up of trainers and owners it really should be. Another incentive to join Towcester is their massive appetite for high class opens and competitions and in 2015 we could see many famous old competitions like the Pall Mall, Cesarewitch and Guineas return in a revamped way. This alone should see that we can still figure in the Trainer Of The Year title race especially as I will be vastly reducing the amount of open racing we have been committed to over the years. I will only look to concentrate on Category 1 and 2 competitions away from Towcester which will greatly help our finances with the reduced amount of travelling.