1982 GRA announce that they will experiment with trap draws in graded competitions at four of their tracks over a two month period.
1971 Thanks to added sponsorship, Wimbledon announce that the impending Laurels will be the most lucrative ever – worth £5,000 to the winner – the same prize as the Irish Derby. Index linked to 2018 the figure would be £78,500.
1951 Haverland Blackamore was driving the staff at Boundary Park to distraction. He chewed threw the door of his kennel and was found poking his head through the hole and peering down the corridor. The wooden panel was replaced on five separate occasion by the increasingly irritated maintenance staff. Then one bright spark tried an experiment. Instead of taking the dog to and from the paddocks on a lead, why not whistle him to and from his kennel as his breeder used to do during his rearing? Apparently content that he had made his point, Blackamore never nibbled the timber again.
1977 Gosforth grader Gorton Road wins his 100th race from 291 outings.
1958 Firgrove Snowman (The Grand Champion-Firgrove Swallow) causes a shock when beating Rylane Pleasure (1-2f) in the Irish St Leger. On the same night, littermate Firgrove Seignore breaks the Dunmore 550 yard track record.
1969 Melton Mowbray track in Leicestershire is shut down by its elderly owners Jack Bingham and Charles Sampey. The pair, who built the track in 1946 plan to retire.
1996 Sittingbourne is shut down after Swale Council repossess the stadium which had gone into administration the previous year.
1958 July 11. Bord na gCon opens for business under the chairmanship of Dr Patrick Maguire.
1941 The Scottish Derby is run off in one evening at Carntyne in two heats, with the first three in each to go forward to the final. Wimbledon trainer Joe Harrison takes up three of George Flintham’s greyhounds, Lights O’ London, Shorn and Keel Creamery. All three qualify from the 7.35 and 7.55 pm races ad line up for the final at 9.45, worth £300 and a trophy to the winner and £150 to second. Lights O’ London the even money favourite, trap 3, beats Shorn, trap 1 by three lengths in a time of 29.75 for the 525 yard race.
1959 Bridgetown Girl (Freugh Tim-Loose End, Mar 57) was cruelly robbed of her place on the role of honour when surprisingly beaten in the English Oaks Final at Harringay. The Barney O’Connor trained 5-4f was two lengths clear of the field when badly pulling a muscle and she failed to finish.
1980 Ballinafonta Hero, a recent 1,275 guinea purchase from Shelbourne Park sales wins the £2,500 Ulster Derby at Celtic Park, followed by the £750 Jim Rice Memorial and the £750 Bookmakers Sweep at Dunmore.
1977 A strike by racing managers meant that the time gap between the first and second round of the Corn Cuchulainn was 60 days. As a result, only one dog turned out for the first heat of the second round. The appropriately names Lonely Willie completed his solo.
1980 Brighton stage an open race meeting restricted to British bred dogs and see three track records go to Fair Reward, Princess Glin and Seagulls.
1951 There are a string of attempted doping incidents, with several people appearing in court. One involved an attempt to bribe a kennel guard at Park Royal to give laced meatballs to four dogs in a race. The three conspirators, who were all found guilty, included a bookmaker, a haulage contractor, and a wrestler!
1983 British bred Yankee Express (Pecos Jerry-Kings Comet) lands his second Scurry Gold Cup – it is his 17th win in his last 18 races.
