This is for you Dean.
Harness championship at Wolverhampton a success
THE inaugural William Hill Pacing Championship at Wolverhampton has been heralded a huge success, after Friday night's £12,000 final went to Irish raider Crown Manhattan.
The 12-1 chance, trained by John Richardson, came home three and a half lengths in front of Red Casino in a new track record.
“Thatwas fantastic,” said winning driver Ian Pimlott. “I've been driving horses for nearly 50 years, and only came in for the drive on this fellow this week because Steve was committed to his own horse.
“This William Hill series has been the biggestthing to happen in our sport and they've done some job with it. I may be 60 now, but you can expect to see me back here next year.”
Favourite Ayr Glory was backed into 5-2 (from 4-1) but failed to follow up last week's heat victory, fading to finish eighth.
William Hill spokesman David Hood said: “Turnover has been much better than we could have expected and we have literally laid the £2 shop punter to the telephone clients who have wanted £5,000 on.
“We'll sit down with the BHRC inthe next few weeks and have a chat about where the sport can go now, and about opportunities for them and us to work together.”
Hood later took part in the WishSquares.com Charity race against ATR's Luke Harvey and the BHRC chairman Lord Lipsey.
Sent off the 2-5 favourite, Harvey came home by five lengths, with the trio raising funds, via the sponsor's website, for the Injured Jockeys' Fund and the Retired Greyhound Trust.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
