Barking Mad Betting to back £12,500 TV Trophy

Marathon showpiece joins English Derby as part of channel's live content

Barking Mad Betting is the new sponsor of one of greyhound racing’s most famous races, the TV Trophy, which starts next week. 

The marathon showpiece, staged over the two-lap 942m trip at the Northamptonshire venue and won last year by the brilliant Mongys Wild, is for a maximum of 18 runners with heats on Saturday, May 9, and the £12,500 final on Saturday, May 16. Entries for the two-run event close at noon on Wednesday. 

The Barking Mad Betting TV Trophy heats and final will give added spice to the Towcester programme over the coming weeks, with the marathon event being staged alongside the Star Sports & Orchestrate Ltd. English Greyhound Derby - on the same nights as the second and third rounds of the £125,000-to-the-winner Classic are being run. 

It all makes for a top-class greyhound racing bonanza and one which Ryan Conneely, whose Barking Mad Betting YouTube channel has well over 10,000 subscribers and will be producing live broadcasts throughout the English Greyhound Derby, is hugely excited about - with the TV Trophy sponsorship the icing on the cake. 

“The TV Trophy has always been one of my favourite races and to have the Barking Mad Betting brand alongside it is fantastic,” said Conneely who is producing live content through the Star Sports & Orchestrate Ltd. English Greyhound Derby. 

He added: “I’m delighted to be able to bring you every heat of the TV Trophy including the final itself on Barking Mad Betting - Live! 

“Barking Mad is going to continue to promote this wonderful sport to the masses and sponsoring this historic competition is an ideal way to do that.” 

First run in 1958 when three tracks staged heats before a Wimbledon final, the TV Trophy was for many years broadcast live on BBC’s Sportsnight programme with the likes of Scurlogue Champ becoming a household name, his legendary status enhanced by back-to-back TV Trophy wins at Monmore in 1985 and Brough Park, now Newcastle, in 1986. 

Scurlogue Champ is one of just four greyhounds to have won two TV Trophys in its 68-year history - the others being Paul Young’s Ericas Equity, the only greyhound to regain her title with wins in 2003 and 2005, Henry Chalkley’s Midway Skipper in 2009 and 2010, and Aayamza Royale in 2020 in 2021. 

Other marathon champions to have won the TV Trophy in recent years include Space Jet (2022) and Bellmore Sally (2023), while last year’s winner Mongys Wild is also considered one of the best in the event’s history and is expected to defend the title and add his name to a select list of double winners, including the aforementioned Midway Skipper. 

The latter holds a special place in the heart of James Chalkley, head of racing at Towcester, whose late grandfather Henry trained her to back-to-back wins. 

He said: “I was working with grandad at the time, so have very fond and clear memories of Skipper. She was a fantastic bitch who gave us as a family so many great times. 

“The TV Trophy is therefore extra special to us, but also to the sport itself, and all of us here at Towcester are proud to be hosting this famous event again. 

“But I think what makes this year’s Barking Mad Betting TV Trophy particularly exciting is how it complements the English Greyhound Derby programme. 

“You’ve got the very best middle-distance dogs in the Classic, and then the true stayers stepping up to 942m. It really showcases the full spectrum of what top-class greyhound racing is about. 

“From an operational point of view, it’s exactly what we want at Towcester - an occasion that gives owners, trainers and racegoers something different across the same night, which will be really special,” added Chalkley. 

*Barking Mad Betting can be viewed via www.youtube.com/@BarkingMadBetting 

Hosted by Ryan Conneely, Ryan invites viewers and subscribers to join him “on a journey through the world of greyhound racing gambling in the UK. The wins, the losses and the thrill”.