1949 The four London owned GRA tracks are currently installing weighing scales in the racing racing paddocks. This follows a warning from the NGRC that they will soon become mandatory. West Ham remains the last London track to install them. Wimbledon, who introduced the idea, have insisted on racing weights for all runners for over 20 years.

2007 Former Greyhound Life editor Bob Betts (above) is awarded the Services to the Greyhound Industry award by members of the Greyhound Writers Association.

1963 The recently deceased former GRA Chairman and President of the National Greyhound Racing Society Francis S Gentle left assets of £181,750, though £101,930 is payable in death duties.

2001 Belle Vue are on the mat after John Walton’s Nire Ranger (A3) accidentally ran in place of kennelmate Diamond Lass and finished second in an A4. Nobody spotted the error, including the fact that Lass is a bitch and Ranger is a dog! In the subsequent inquiry, the Belle Vue executive are fined £1,000.

1978 Lady Barbra, future dam of Irish Derby winner Kyle Jack and Squire Jones is sold at Shelbourne sales for 200 guineas.

1984 Selection of Irish 525 yard track record holders: Clonmel – Game Ball (29.18), Cork – The Stranger (28.95), Dundalk – Summerhill Flash (29.42), Dunmore – Ringfad Flash & Blissful Pride (28.88), Harolds Cross – Romping To Work (28.86), Kilkenny – Lax Law (28.98), Limerick – Squire Jones (29.12), Newbridge – Some Skinomage (29.02), Shelbourne – Tantallons Gift (28.73), Thurles – Sailing Weather (29.20), Waterford – Peruvian Style & Lady Referee (29.28).

2010 Bad weather sees dozens of evening meetings cancelled in Britain and Ireland where there is no meeting for two and a half weeks. Among the casualties is the Gold Cup at Henlow. The heats were staged on December 14, the semis finally took place on the 28th, but the management decided to void the final on January 11. All six finalists were paid a £100 consolation. Meanwhile tracks in Victoria call off meetings due to an extreme heat wave. Over four consecutive nights the temperature does no fall below 36 degrees centigrade.

1951 On a blank day for racing, Greyhound Express produce some fascinating facts and figures for readers. In terms of track circumference, the huge West Ham circuit comes out on top at 562 yards. By means of comparison, White City’s is 498.6yds, Wembley’s is 463.5yds Brighton’s is 492.5yds Walthamstow’s is 437yds and Wimbledon’s is 439.5yds. The smallest circuit in London is Park Royal at 353yds (Romford is 380yds). The longest run to the bend for a standard distance race though is at the old Reading track which boasts a 208 yard run-up for the 440 yards. (Reading is actually the second biggest circuit in the country, a mere 36 yards smaller than West Ham.) By comparison the run to the bend for the 525 yards at White is 99.3yds, Wimbledon’s is 90yds. White City has the second shortest run-in from the last bend to the winning line – 45yds). Only Gloucester (33yds) and Southampton (40yds) are shorter. The longest run-in is Perry Barr’s lung bursting 106 yards.

2002 Gaming International announce that they have reached agreement to take over operations at Reading.

1992 Wembley plc, the owners of GRA, announce an £8m loss for 1991, following a £13m profit the previous year. They blame the Gulf War and the recession. The company claim to have spent £10m on improvements at their six greyhound tracks in the previous five years.

1960 Wimbledon racing manager Con Stevens introduces ‘All In All” racing whereby each of the track’s six trainers has one greyhound in every race throughout the entire meeting. Stevens had previously introduced a policy of having at least half of every graded card made up of 700 yard races. The move was hailed by Greyhound Express editor Charlie Hawkins “as one of the main reasons why Wimbledon was bucking the trend of falling attendances.”

1977 Try It Blackie, one of the best hurdlers of his generation is retired after contesting 129 races including 116 opens, of which he won 46 and over £5,000 in prize money. Trained by Harringay’s Frank Melville, he was originally bought at Hackney sales for 48 guineas.

1984 The NGRC announce the identity of their new steward. He is Major General John Carnegie Robertson. He is to replace Major General Jeremy Michael Spencer-Smith, a former Director of Manning (Army) at the Ministry of Defence.

1963 Dromin Glory is voted 1962 Dog of the Year by a panel of racing journalists. Bitch of the Year is Dainty Spark. The best British bred dog is Any Harm. The best British bred bitch is Ballinasloe Blondie. Dam of the best British bred litter is Janetina. It is the third time that Blondie has landed the award, though she shared the 1960 award with Wheatfield Countess, and became the first bitch to ever win the Best British Bred Greyhound award in 1961. Blondie was bred by farmer William P Tabbush from Manston in Kent. He chose the ‘Ballinasloe’ prefix off a road sign while on holiday in Ireland.

1986 Works gets underway on a 200 seat extension to the Wimbledon restaurant.

2010 Newcastle trainer Howard Mitchelson is fined a total of £4,000 and disqualified for four year. The case surrounded the withdrawal of two runners and failure to keep those runners in licenced kennels. There were also other offences relating to discrepancies in the kennel treatment book, failure to make adequate transport arrangements for an injured greyhound and inadequate requirements for retired dogs.

1984 Yankee Express is awarded the 1983 Greyhound of the Year title after winning 21 of his 28 races including the finals of the Scurry, Super Trapper and Pall Mall. Fellow British bred Glatton Grange was runner-up and receives a special award. Express’s trainer George Curtis easily won the open race trainers championship and also takes the Bitch of the Year award with marathon star Sandy Lane. Express’s dam Kings Comet, who is owned by Janes Hicks in Sussex, collects the top brood award.

1992 New South Wales leading sire, and former Greyhound of the Year, Worth Doing, has a foreleg amputated.