Ahead of an action-packed card at Oxford on Saturday, headlined by the BetGoodwin Pall Mall heats, we take a look at the leading contenders for the competition, the track’s stats toppers and beyond.

History of the competition

The Pall Mall Stakes is one of the most prestigious competitions in British greyhound racing. Inaugurated in 1935, the Pall Mall Stakes was originally held at Harringay Stadium and quickly earned a reputation as the venue’s flagship event. In 1988, following the closure of Harringay, the competition moved to Oxford Stadium, where it has remained (with a hiatus during the stadium’s closure). Over the decades, it has been won by some of the sport’s most iconic greyhounds and trainers Over the decades, it has been won by some of the sport’s most iconic greyhounds and trainers, most recently the prize going to Aero Sacundai, trained by Richie Taberner.

Trial stakes leading performers

Saturday night’s trial stakes gave us some early clues into who might shine as the competition gets underway. Fastest performance of the night went to Paul Burr trained Bacon Roll who stopped the clock in 26.68, a highly impressive effort on a first look round the track. Yahoo Lolls was also victorious in the final trial stake (26.86) bringing up a double for the Romford based trainer.

Liz McNair’s King Jackson went well off the back of a strong Kent Silver Salver campaign recording a winning time of 26.96 being pushed all the way by Crossfield Nial who has been excelling since his switch to the Oxfordshire venue.

Home-based trainers Richard Yeates and Rachel Hill also recorded trial stakes victories with Clona King (26.92) and Jackos Dog (27.11) respectively.

A mention must also go to the Kevin Hutton trained and Mick Freshwater owned Antigua Kestral who recorded the fastest pre-competition trial time of 26.31.

 

Oxford’s leading trainers

Open Race

Trainer W R % TPM +/- %W %R
K R Hutton 86 261 33.0% £37,840 -£13.24 41.0% 23.7%
D N Lewis 18 48 37.5% £8,285 -£10.81 8.6% 4.4%
J M Ray 11 84 13.1% £7,655 -£14.14 5.2% 7.6%
E Mcnair 7 15 46.7% £13,960 £2.33 3.3% 1.4%
R L Hill 7 30 23.3% £3,230 -£10.82 3.3% 2.7%

 

Graded racing

Trainer W R % TPM +/- %W %R
T J Nevin 215 1094 19.7% £61,045 -£232.96 15.5% 15.0%
N J Deas 209 1113 18.8% £62,170 -£321.60 15.0% 15.3%
J M Ray 163 966 16.9% £52,035 -£325.68 11.7% 13.3%
D Jeans 102 553 18.4% £30,185 -£118.27 7.3% 7.6%
K Dodington 96 602 15.9% £33,390 -£194.39 6.9% 8.3%

 

Trap Records

Trap W R % +/-
1 34 195 17.4% -£86.23
2 37 198 18.7% -£65.00
3 41 197 20.8% -£46.59
4 36 186 19.4% -£59.39
5 22 165 13.3% -£76.09
6 40 162 24.7% -£32.60

 

Spotlight on…

While all eyes will undoubtedly be on Kevin Hutton’s newly crowned Kent Silver Salver champion Rioja Oisin who returns to his home track to race for the first time since February 2024. It is another Kevin Hutton trained greyhound, Start The Engine, who has been setting tongues wagging. This May 2023 dog out of Ballymac Cashout and Ballymac Trudi is seven wins from seven career starts and will be looking to make a swift break from the inside. However, this could be this greyhound’s hardest task to date, lining up against impressive heat winner Bacon Roll.

Racing office view

“There’s a promising runner in Aero Pepinillo for last year’s Pall Mall-winning trainer Richie Taberner and the Aero Racing Syndicate,” said racing manager Simon Pearson. “After winning a maiden open race by two lengths following a 26.56 trial, however it’s still uncertain if he has the early speed needed for Oxford’s 450m.”

 

Track records

Distance Greyhound Trainer Time Date
235m Union Rebel K. Hutton 14.67 15/02/2025
450m El Tornillo D. Lee 26.24 13/07/2024
650m Queen Georgia E.McNair 39.17 30/11/2024
847m Magical Luna K. Billingham 52:21 27/07/2024