1982 Jim Woods is the new racing manager at Perry Barr. Originally an assistant to Charlie Boulton at Harringay, he later became RM at Nottingham and Leeds.
1970 Nottingham White City closes after 37 years of trading. A Kent company bought the seven acre site for £110,000 and will build warehouses on it.
1971 Open racer Nobody’s Pick is proving a draw for racegoers. It isn’t the fact that he is a prolific open winner that impresses them, it’s the fact the that the Bristol track record breaker has a habit of stopping after the winning line and running back in the opposite direction.
1959 London Stadiums have a dog called Ballyfinane Star in their kennels. He was purchased at the Irish sales for 175 guineas earlier in the year. He had already been entered for the Irish Derby at took his place in the first round, winning his race and setting a new track record. The agent for the new, highly delighted, owner Fred Myles from Hatfield, then transferred the dog to his base in Sunbury, awaiting finalisation of the paper work. Mr Myles was then informed that the previous owner of the dog “objected to the sale” and would not sign the transfer forms. Three months later, the owner of one of the most exciting young prospects in racing has not seen his dog run. . .as the kennel bills continued to mount.
1988 A van driven by Oxford trainer Tony Meek crashes on the way home killing two greyhounds Yankee Queen and Deenside Captain.
1985 Following a kennel check on the kennel of George Drake, where they find Scurlogue Champ in residence, the NGRC order that the dog be officially transferred to the Peterborough trainer’s range from that of owner Ken Peckham. The duly wins the Cesarewitch final for his new handler.
1995 Wallyford boss Jim Robertson is able to locate the last known owner of two greyhounds found dead in a lake near Loanhead. Both had bags over their heads and attempts had been made to conceal their identities. However, in the case of the British bred one, the perpetrator had cut off the wrong ear. Robertson is confident that the bitch was bred by Lloyd Milligan but had been sold on when much younger. The dog had also raced at Wallyford but was dodgy. There had been unsuccessful attempts to sell him as recently as the previous month. The pair had been owned by different people, but known to associate together. When the SSPCA visited them, they claimed to have sold both dogs on to someone who they ‘knew by sight, but did not know his name.’ The investigators are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
2011 Hall Green announce plans to drop their Tuesday fixture following the sacking of its biggest trainer John Pearce who had more than 70 runners on the strength.
1970 Favourite Adamstown Valley finishes home alone, quite literally in a Romford 460 yard hurdle open. Joe Pickering’s 4-5f wins by a distance from Camps Bluey with the other three runners all failing to finish.
1965 Sheffield champion Clonmannon Flash competes a rare Scottish double in the space of a fortnight when adding the Scottish Derby to his victory in the Edinburgh Cup. What’s more, owner Alan Thorne and trainer Ron Hookway also had the Carntyne forecast with O’Leary.
1995 A snippet from the Chester Chronicle: “Lost – rabbit, white and tan, Sealand Road area, by greyhound track”
1952 Chelsea manager Ted Drake presents the trophy to connections of Chelsea Cup winner Ballylanigan Tanist.
1990 Exactly a year after the laying of a new £100,000 racing circuit at Hall Green, the entire circuit is being dug up. When it was first laid, the surface was running approximately three seconds slow. However, over time it speeded up to such an extent that track records were being broken in trials.
1957 Ed Brennan, the owner of Solar Prince – previously withdrawn lame from the Irish Derby second round – rejects English offers of £2,500 after the dog is an impressive winner of the Tipperary Cup in 30.10 for Thurles’ 525 yards. Unbeaten in his eleven races to date, also including the Callanan Cup, the son of Champion Prince and Lisabelle heads to London for a four runner invitation race at White City. He trials over the little used 500 yard course and clocks 27.67, more than half a second quicker than the track record. Brennan refuses £3,500 for the dog. The £450 match proves a thriller and sees Solar Prince hold off Kilcaskin Kern by half a length with Ballypatrick a head a way in third and Northern King a further short head away in fifth. The winner clocked 29.01 for 525 yards, just one spot quicker than the Oaks final won by Dark Rose over the same course and distance 15 minutes earlier. Following his 12th straight victory, Solar Prince is retired to stud.
1946 How Wandsworth took their dogs racing. This picture shows how the Wandsworth group of tracks transported their runners from the stadium owned kennels to the race track.Each double sided trailer could transport 56 greyhounds “each with its own kennel”.It was pulled by a Scammell Mechanical Horse – of the type pictured (inset)
