Suffolk trainer Mark Wallis is celebrating after taking home the top prize of Ladbrokes Trainer of the Year at the Greyhound Board of Great Britain’s Awards Ceremony in London for the tenth time.

Wallis saw off stiff competition from other successful trainers to grasp the title for the seventh straight year, and tenth overall.

His involvement in the sport spans three decades. He joined Imperial Kennels in Lakenheath in 1990 and in 2005 took over from Linda Jones, former champion trainer and Wallis’ mother-in-law.

Since then, his training career has gone from strength to strength and his kennel has produced some of the UK’s most successful racing greyhounds in recent history.

Wallis has won the English Greyhound Derby, the jewel of the racing calendar, with two dogs – Kinda Ready in 2009 and Blonde Snapper in 2012.

There was further cause for celebration at the awards, as one of his greyhounds, Bombers Bullet, picked up the Stayer of the Year Award.

Wallis said: “I’m privileged to work with so many fantastic people in our industry.

“For me, the greyhounds in our care always come first and I have been very lucky, firstly to have been tutored by Linda Jones, a real legend in the sport, but also to have a tremendous team of staff behind me especially with the support of my wife Sarah and my family.

“I also have some very loyal owners who have backed me through the years.”

Mark Bird, managing director of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, added: “To win the Trainer of the Year Award for the tenth time is an extraordinary achievement and everyone across the sport is in awe of Mark’s success.

“Mark has trained some of the sports’ most successful greyhounds and is an inspiration to trainers and kennelhands across the country. Mark works incredibly hard and his commitment to welfare is second to none.

“Anyone visiting Mark’s kennels in Lakenheath cannot fail to see the love and attention which is given to every single greyhound in his care. It is clearly this combination of dedication, determination and hard work that has enabled Mark to train such fantastic canine athletes.”