2005 August 25. Pelaw Grange stages its first meeting under NGRC rules.

1929 The second Irish Derby Final is run at Harolds Cross. Showing outstanding form in the heats, Mrs D Harris’s Jack Bob (Corkit-Tottie Longeocks) skates the 525 yard final by three lengths at odds of 1-2 in 30.80. Trainer H Teats and connections pick up £150 and presentation cup.

2000 Trainer and owner Harry Findlay reveals that he is a member of the three-man syndicate who landed the Tote Scoop6 £1m jackpot at Newmarket.

1946 Steve (Printer-Verge Of Palm) reckoned to have ‘had a look’ when racing at Wembley, storms away with the Irish Derby Final.

1960 Portsmouth announce a new competition, the F A Childs Memorial, in memory of their former racing manager who was killed in a boating accident the previous summer.

1999 GRA announce a £4m refurbishment of Portsmouth. . .

2005 Charlie Lister thinks his kennel is cursed after Killeigh Grand’s career is ended by a gracilis injury. It follows successive fatal injuries to Droopys Best and Fear By Design.

1988 Twenty greyhounds were killed following an explosion and fumes at Willie Weir’s kennel in Scotland.

1995 Shelbourne Park opens its greatly upgraded main grandstand. New features include four exec boxes plus new bars and a complete new restaurant. The cost is £2.5m

1960 Following complaints from greyhound trainers, the Ministry of Agriculture agree to rescind their order forcing all knacker meat to be sterilised prior to being sold. Instead they agree to a new meat staining process.

1990 Druids Suzie is disqualified in a hurdle open at Monmore. She is the second littermate of recent Derby runner-up Druids Johno to have her card marked.

2002 Shelbourne Park receives 130 entries for the Derby but once again decide to restrict the first round to 96 runners. Matters then hit the farcical stage when Francie Murray withdraws leading fancy Jet Spray with a ligament injury. The following day, the dog’s owners remove him from Murray’s care and re-enter him in the event. He wins his first round heat by three lengths in 30.11 for the 550 yards.

1962 August 18. The final of the Suffolk Derby at Ipswich over 500 yards and worth £150 to the winner is reduced to four runners, when two of the finalists are found to be lame. This makes the London-trained favourite Ink Pot a hot 1-3 chance, but he only just gets up to beat last year’s winner, Wagon Train, by a short head in 28.49. Players from Ipswich Town, new champions of Division 1 and managed by Alf Ramsey, are guests of the track, and present the trophy to the winning owner Mr White.

1999 Phantom Flash dies of a heart attack aged 11 at the Kerry Hills Kennel in Kerry. Bred by Nick Savva, the son of Flashy Sir and Westmead Seal won the 1990 Sussex Cup (1-4f), Produce Stakes (1-2f) and Anglo Irish (4-5f).
Following a fall out between trainer and owner Dave Hawley, the dog joined Patsy Byrne and in 1991 landed the Scottish Derby by six lengths at odds of 1-4f. His career was ended by injury in the quarter finals of the English Derby.
Flash went on to throw several very fast dogs headed by littermates Spiral Nikita and Tina Marina. There was also Dew Reward, Sure Fantasy,Jackies Phantom, Ardcollum Flash, Tuesdays Davy, Phantom Power, Droopys Mossie, Treasury Tag, Liffey Mills, Spit It Out, Get Connected and the brilliant brood Blonde Returns.

1990 Wishaw’s Davy Kirkwood pays out fellow promoter Ernie De Rose when the Coatbridge boss lands the Grand And A Half Final with 6-1 chance Rob.

1955 August 20th Nearly all NGRC tracks now have the “first past the post” rule. But at Charlton a near riot nearly occurred when the favourite in the first race fought near the winning line. He was then disqualified by the officials with the race awarded to the second and third placed greyhounds. This angered the punters from the popular enclosed who crossed over to the main ring to confront the stewards who left their positions to explain to the crowd of their decision.

1975 Bord na gCon announce that attendance figures for 1974 were an Irish record, 995,328. Almost 7,300 greyhounds were exported.

1956 August 10th ante-post favourite for the Laurels at Wimbledon, Mr Purvis’ Northern King (Champion Prince-Big Bawn) gave his supporters a scare in the heats when at odds of 1-8. He stumbled out of the traps, but recovered to lead at the third bend and win his heat by three lengths. In his semi-final he again stumbled at the traps and was then baulked at the first bend and eliminated behind all-the-way-winner Duet Leader (Champion Prince-Derryluskin Lady) who went on to win the event for the second year in a row. Mrs Chandler’s Walthamstow trained evens favourite, led at the first bend and held off the strong finish of Cleos Gossip by three quarters of a length in 28.13 for the 500 yard classic.

1967 August 8 Agent Jim Lundon snaps up a 19 month old pup Camira Flash for 1,000 guineas at Shelbourne Park Sales. Ten months later and donated to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Flash wins the most controversial English Derby Final of all time.

1960 Clonalvy Pride, misses his break but still shatters the ‘paciest’ track record on the circuit when clocking 27.24 for the Stamford Bridge 500 yard course. The race is the final of the Chelsea Cup.

1977 Pat Dalton snapped up Knockrour Street (Itsachampion-Knockrour Exile) for 950 guineas at Cork Sales. The 19 month old pup was to become a successful open racer in the USA and later went to stud.

1980 British breeding is at an all time peak. The Greyhound Stud Book announce that 500 litters were registered in the first four months of the year.

1977 Belle Vue increase admission prices to the main stand to £1. They also scrap concessionary prices for OAPs.

1960 Surrey trainer Jim Maws is so confident of the ability of her marathon bitch Glittering Lark that he asks NGRC permission to stage a match race over one mile. Permission is refused, ,the maximum race distance allowed under NGRC rules is Catford’s 1180 yards.

2003 Droopys Shearer wins his 10th consecutive race, the William Hill Puppy Classic Final (2-9f- 29.47 Nottingham 500m) and is installed as a 12-1 chance for the 2004 English Derby. Within a month, the Ted Soppitt trained dog has picked up a wrist injury that will see him miss the remainder of the racing year.

1975 August Leading Pride, prolific open race winner, who under Brighton trainer, George Curtis, won 33 opens including the BBC Television Trophy in 1973, has whelped her first litter. Mrs Emma Ripleys bitch by Myrtown who ran in three Derbies: the 1973/4 English and the 74 Irish.

1972 Hurry Guy’s four year old Harolds Cross 580 track record was broken twice in the space of half an hour. Salubrious Lady clocked 32.22, but not before Shady Trellis had set a best of 32.20. A week later Toms Pal disappeared from the list of Cross sprint record holders when Drom Pride (Monalee King-Drom Primrose) clocked 18.10 for the 330 yards. His next run was a new 16.60 clock for 300 yards at Waterford. A week later still and Ireland’s most prestigious clock, the Shelbourne 525, fell to Ballykilty (Always Proud-Kitty True) who clocked 28.80. Yellow Printer’s previous best was 28.83.

1981 August 27 The 49th running of the St Leger at Wembley has a good line line-up with (T1) Safe Landing, (T2) Ballybeg Bob, (T3) Johnny Bristol, (T4) Fox Watch, (T5) Longcross Smokey and (T6) Alfa My Son. The race turns out to be a cracker with less than three lengths covering the field. Mrs J Leeper’s Fox Watch (Rita Choice-Queen Of Moray), the only unbeaten finalist, keeps his record intact. Leading to the third, he is challenged by Longcross Smokey, before regaining the lead at the fourth. Fox Watch then holds off the strong finishes of firstly Ballybeg Bob, then Alfa My Son to win the 655 metre classic by 1 1/4 and half a length. The rest are threequarters, a neck and a head behind. The winning time: 40.17.

2005 Bell Legend, who seemed destined never to race again, make his debut for Mark Wallis in a Monmore open. The black, who had broken a hock some 13 month earlier in the Select Stakes, completes his rehabilitation with a win in the Steel City Cup.

Favourite Jaspers Boy wins the Coldseal Puppy Classic for David Pruhs. The brindle goes on to win two Select Stakes (and compete in a third), and reach an English Derby Final – pic Steve Nash
Coldseal Puppy Classic Nottingham 500m £10,000   August 24 1997
1. JASPERS BOY (Castlelyons Gem-Polnoon Lane) (T5) 11-10f
2. EL FRANCO (Magical Piper-Clear Issue) (T2) 9-1
3. CANWELL FLASH (Flashy Sir-Ella Rose) (T1) 5-1
4. FARLOE KITCHEN (Satharn Beo-I Know You) (T6) 3-1
5. NOWUNINTHESHOP (Magical Piper-Clear Issue) (T4) 7-1
6. VALE LODGE WILLS (Physcho City-Fortune Princess) (T3) 20-1
30.17 4 1/2, nk, 5 3/4, 1 1/4 1/2 (Dave Pruhs)