1947 Walthamstow Borough Council are objecting to the renewal of the Betting Licence for Walthamstow Stadium. The Daily Express reports “they had interviewed the Mayor, and one of his reasons was that a councillor had 50 minutes wait for a trolley bus on race day. It is further said that the local council wants the land for housing and have a homes waiting list of 8,000 people.” Track operator Charles Chandler concedes that the track regularly races in front of 15,000 paying patrons”. Chandler also drew attention to the flood risk at the site. “There is about 6 acres of stadium property, and it was only made suitable for a race track by raising the running course four feet, as the ground was so low lying. It I liable to flooding and a special pump was early installed to maintain a constant drainage of surface water.” A separate newspaper article, which describes Walthamstow as “the modernly appointed dog track in the country” reveals that the annual rateable value of the site is £20,000 (£800,000 in modern terms).
2010 Veteran trainer Pam Heasman dies aged 85. A former kennelgirl with Stan Biss, Pam became a successful private trainer before becoming attached to Hackney and Wembley. Her greatest success came with Gold Collar and St Leger winner Westmead Champ. Pam also became Britain’s foremost stud keeper and was a tireless supporter of the Breeders Forum and GTA.
1965 Nine months after the NGRC authorised an experiment of allowing all racing managers to select trap positions for graded racing, almost all the London tracks are expected to reject the idea and will continue with trap draws. The exception is Wimbledon where racing manager Con Stevens believes the change can “significantly improve” graded racing.
2010 Wimbledon’s hugely respected groundsman John Forster retires on Derby Final night after 40 years service.- JOHN FORSTER on his last Derby night with son Marcus (who takes over) and the famous trophy alongside a special framed picture courtesy of William Hill, featuring some of the greats to have raced at the circuit. Pic Steve Nash
1947 The Northern Irish Parliament issues new legislation banning Sunday racing and orders that all racing in Northern Ireland should come under the auspices of a single body – the Irish Coursing Club. The law is unusual in that “the bill does not apply to Eire, though Eire recognises the ICC.”
1964 John Sutton, the 28 year old managing director of Catford Stadium, which recently merged with GRA, joins the GRA board. Sutton is also chairman of West Ham and a director at Brighton.
1947 NGRC stewards withdraw the licence and warn off trainer W A Mills of Southend. He has been found guilty of breaching rule 54 “causing rabbits to be exposed in enclosure where rabbits had little or no chance of escaping.”
1986 A reporter from Greyhound Owner was given an unusual response from Dunmore boss Sam Young when phoning with an enquiry. “You will have to call me back later. I have been locked in an office and I have to get the police and tell them someone tried to steal the takings.”
1966 20-1 outside Bedford (Steady The Man-Over Beyond) was the surprise winner of the TV Trophy at Walthamstow. Bought for 125 guineas by Bert Pegrum of Crooked Mile in Waltham Abbey, Bedford set a new track record of 54.26 for the 880 yards. Trained by Bob Thompson, the fawn had been beaten in a Romford graded race between the TV Trophy heats and final.
1986 Jerry Desmond is appointed the new Secretary and Chief Executive of the Irish Coursing Club. Desmond is well known as a coursing slipper in Cork.
1997 Friday night – the Catford racing circuit is in pristine condition for the weekend which includes the semi finals of the Greenwich Cup and a first ever BAGS meeting at the track. Suddenly a youth one a trails bike burst through the main gate and does three laps of the track before being apprehended by security staff. He thought it was a speedway track – apparently!
1986 Breeks Rocket – future winner of the 1987 Grand National – is top lot at Shelbourne Sales at 3,250 guineas. Ring Gortnadi, future track record breaker for the Harolds Cross 525H course, sells for 1,500gns.
1947 One of the main topics under discussion in the greyhound press concerns the introduction of owners colours – much as in horse racing. The idea would not be to interfere with trap colours on racing jackets, but to have special paraders coats and parade coats for dogs after they had won a trophy.
1986 Following disputes between members of the British Breeders Forum, Bob Gilling takes over responsibility for entries for the Produce Stakes. Among Gilling’s pledges is that the event will lose its ‘late entry’ option. The £200 backdoor to the competition for dogs not entered at the earlier stages was exploited by the first two winners of the event, Glatton Grange and Fearless Champ.
1965 Dermott Hughes of Bengalstown wins his second Produce Stakes in three years when 7-1 shot Kileden Guest wins impressively in 29.76 for Clonmel’s 525 yards. Two years earlier Hughes won the stake with Kileden General.
1966 The story of Hi Joe seems to have reached a sad conclusion when the dog is well beaten and finishes lame on his first official race in 16 months. The outstanding puppy of 1964, and ante post favourite for the 1965 English Derby, had been stolen in the January of that year from trainer Noreen Collin’s kennel in Epping. In the interim, he had almost certainly been racing on the flapping circuit where he picked up a serious wrist injury. He was eventually recovered some 13 months later. However, the small black was then subject to a shambles of a legal dispute which kept him off the track for a further three months. It was reported thus: “The charges were trivial but the cost of the investigation and trial ran into thousands of pounds. Essex County Council were landed with the bill because their police handled the case and the hearing was at the county’s Quarter Sessions. If it weren’t for the high cost in time and money – months of police enquiry and a six-day hearing engaging eminent council, – the Hi Joe case would be laughable. The real issue was regaining permanent possession of Hi Joe. The dog fitting his description was found when police, acting on a tip-off, entered the backyard of a house in Bedfordshire. A charge of receiving a stolen dog could not be brought, as there is a law prohibiting bringing a theft or receiving charge of a dog if the dog has been missing for longer than six months. I Joe had been missing for over a year. So charges of breaking into the kennels and stealing a dog coat were brought and the prosecution’s evidence was so thin that the defendant was in little danger and rightly acquitted. The police had to justify seizing the dog and returning him to Hi Joe’s trainer. That was why they were forced to bring their weak case to court, simply for the opportunity of demonstrating that the dog in the backyard was Hi Joe. If identity couldn’t be proven in court, then the defendant would have a strong claim to regaining posses
