There are at least two bits of good news, with a third still to be resolved, for three of the major open race events of the year.
First the definites. GAIN Nutrition have confirmed that they plan to go ahead with both the GTA Trainers Championship Meeting and their similarly sponsored Three Steps To Victory competition – both events to take place at Sheffield.
Sean Traynor of sponsors Gain (left) presents the 2019 ‘Three Steps’ trophy to connections of Bull Run Button. Rose Draper holds the winner
The two hugely popular competitions had appeared under threat due to the rescheduling of the Star Sports/ARC/LPS Greyhound Derby which commences six weeks earlier than its 2019 equivalent.
Last year’s Trainer Championship meeting took place on April 6 with the ‘Three Steps’ final in July. (The Derby gets underway on April 10/11).
GAIN spokesman Sean Traynor said: “I am delighted to report that we will be sponsoring these events again. We realise the huge importance of both competitions to trainers.
“Obviously the movement of the Derby has affected everyone’s plans, though a Trainers Championship slot in the middle of the summer is not the worst idea. So we will be liaising with Dave Perry at Sheffield who will need to work out dates with GBGB.”
The news on the Scottish Derby is less certain. Last year’s final on May 4 would coincide with the quarter finals of the 2020 English Derby though Shawfield have not given up on finding a suitable date after the Nottingham decider.
Racing manager Dean Kennedy said: “We are waiting to hear back from GBGB to see whether we can have the dates that we wanted. It would mean running the final on the last Saturday of June (27th).
However, there is a further complication in that RPGTV have not committed to sponsoring the event having done so for the previous five years.
Kennedy said: “The stadium management are working on finding a sponsor, but until we know whether we have our dates, it isn’t easy to finalise anything.”
We will update the situation as soon as we are notified – Ed
