Jill Llewellin finished as the leading graded trainer at Belle Vue for the first time in 2018 and still had time to send out 43 graded winners at Nottingham.
Jill LLewellin
The Stoke based trainer switched to dual attachment last summer and frequently fields runners for seven race meetings per week.
This week she had open and graded runners at Nottingham on Monday, graded runners on Tuesday, will be at Belle Vue on Wednesday, qualifying pups on a Thursday trial session at Belle Vue, at Nottingham on Friday, and send runners to both tracks on Saturday, before finishing the week at Belle Vue on Sunday.
Jill said: “I have been dual attached for probably six months. It came about when Belle Vue dropped their Friday evenings and I wasn’t getting enough runners. Mick Hardy (Belle Vue GM) had a chat with Rachel Corden (Nottingham promoter) and they approach me with the suggestion.
“I have around 90 dogs, including pups, so around 75 runners. Of those, there are probably 50 at Belle Vue and 25 at Nottingham. Although the distance to Nottingham is further, on a good day we can get here in less than an hour.
“Going to Belle Vue in the rush hour is never less than an hour, and often two hours. We really enjoy Nottingham and although I don’t have any plans to give up either, in the long term it is nice to have the security of the two tracks.”
Ms Llewellin finished with 339 winners from 2,116 runners at Belle Vue (16.02%). Dave and Bev Heaton, consistently the leading kennel in recent years, have reduced their kennel strength but still finished second on the table with 303 winners (17.87%).
In terms of percentages, top slot went to Pat Rosney with 97 winners from 346 runners (28.03%).
