1949 Behattan Marquis (Countryman-Behattan, Jan 47) finishes the year as the most prolific and successful open racer of 1949. Owned and bred by C Marsh of Cheshire, the brindle won 14 opens and £2,637 (£91,240 index linked) in prize money with victories that included The Wood Lane Stakes, the Northern and Midland Flat, the Summer Cup and the Eclipse. Trained by Bob Burls, he raced 44 times and also broke the 525 clock at Leicester. Behind him in the table were Derby winner Narrogar Ann (£2,519) and Eastern Madness with 11 wins a apiece. In total there were 1,310 open races staged in 1949, 172 fewer than 1948.
1973 In the final of the Shelbourne Leger over 550 yards, the 2-1 favourite Windjammer (Sirius-Big Gamble, Sep’71) is overlooked by most punters. But the Tony Fisher owned, Ger McKenna trained dog, shows they should have had it on. He storms to an easy seven length victory in 31.09.
1956 North Herts Coursing Club hold an unusual eight-dog stake – for Salukis.
1984 The Wembley management were left scratching their heads when the split times went awry in races. They were fine in trials. The culprit proved to be Houdini the hare. The latest Wembley lure has tall ears which were breaking the beam. The trial sessions had taken place behind a different lure. The problem was resolved when Houdini had his ears pinned back with duct tape.
2002 Only three months after bursting onto the Southern greyhound scene by winning the Manchester Puppy Cup with Full Cigar, unknown Scottish couple Rab and Liz McNair land the Ladbroke Festival Sprint winner with Crock Of Gold. The trophy is presented by Monmore’s high flying young General Manager Richard Brankley (right) to Liz McNair, joined by husband Rab and owner Craig Dawson (left) – photo Steve Nash
But the names and faces weren’t so unfamilar to Greyhound Star readers. 11 months earlier, Crock Of Gold had been a finalist in the Independent Greyhound of the Year but had been edged out by Kingston Rogue, otherwise known on the flaps as ‘Linda’. Any guessing which Scottish couple she was trained by?
1975 A syndicate formed from 10 owners buy a half share of Yorkshire independent Halifax; the other half is owned by Jon Carter. Among the new group is Barbara Fearn, wife of NGRC steward Alan Fearn.
2010 Reigning Greyhound of the Year Fear Zafonic arrives at Tony Apap’s kennel near Brisbane where he is to stand at stud. On his first day on Apap’s property, Zafonic jumps into a lake and swims to the centre –much to the relief of his agitated new owner, before swimming safely back to solid ground.
1942 After winning a match race on December 19 at Bristol at odds of 1-10, Ballynennan Noon (Mr Moon-Banriogan Dan, Apr’39) lines up in a 500 yard open at his home track Wimbledon on Boxing Day, and again he is at very short odds of 1-8. Sidney Orton’s charge soon picks off his opponents on heavy going to win in 28.99.
1950 The new Instaprint photo timer finally passes its industry trials at Wimbledon. The South London track is reckoned to be the most rigorous of testing grounds thanks to double-unit ray timing crossed checked up against as many as seven manned stop watches. The new device had preciously been certified as being accurate to within one hundredth of a second by the National Physical Laboratory.
1927 Rule 53 from the first NGRC rule book. “A person making an entry under another person’s subscription, when the forfeit must be declared by a particular time shall, if he does not declare forfeit by that time, be considered to have taken the engagement upon himself and it shall be transferred to his name”
1984 Wembley bookies make plain their disdain for the chances of Ipswich runner Hilltown Rocket in a staying open race. He is returned at 125-1 in a five-runner field and finishes a distant last.
1970 Micky ‘Gilly’ Ryan advertises a bitch as an open race prospect for £400. She isn’t sold. Years later Letesia will throw Waterloo Cup winners Minnesota Miller and Minnesota Mark.
1946 Castledown Tiptoes (Castledown Lad-Hotcap) trained by Sidney Orton, becomes the first bitch to in both the Puppy Oaks and Oaks at Wimbledon.
1984 Race wreckers push a track cover over the hare rail and successfully void a stayers race with heavily backed favourite Lady Opinion likely to be beaten. The wreckers escape.
2008 The Irish Greyhound Board announces that it will retain prize money levels in 2009 despite the 10% reduction in grants recently announced by the Irish Minister of Finance.
1950 Canon R L Whytehead, vicar of St Margarts with St Nicholas Church in Kings Lynn has drawn up a petition to oppose plans to build a greyhound track in the town. “We promose that the amenities of the town would be spoiled. . .we are also opposed to gambling”.
1963 Any American punter was so shocked at landing the £3,700 ‘Twin Double’ pool that he had a heart attack and died on his way to the window. A fellow punter promptly grabbed the ticket from the dying man’s hand but was spotted and arrested by an observant policeman.
1949 White City punters were treated to the ‘race of the year’ on Boxing Day. It went to Laurels winner Ballymac Ball in a new 550 yard track record of 30.27. In a thrilling race, Stan Martin’s dog just held off the brilliant puppy Red Wind by a neck with Derby winner Narogar Ann further down the field.
1971 Some Prairie becomes the first imported greyhound to become the USA’s National Race Winning Champion. Bred by Dan Flanagan of Feohanagh, Prairie is a daughter or Monalee Champion and Some Glen.
1963 Local Wimbledon runner Pineapple Joe (Cloppok-Sight Unseen, Jan 62) wins the £25 to winner Greyhound Express 7th Merit Puppy Championship (the ‘Juvenile’). Denis Hannafin’s Puppy Derby winner over the same course and distance won by an easy three lengths in 28.52 for the 500 yards.
1979 Leading marathon star Welsh Cobbler is disqualified for fighting and hastily re-instated by Oxford stewards. The confusion was caused when leader Glasha Tide slowed to a walk and Welsh Cobbler ran into her. Cobbler’s reprieve came via a local steward who was standing close to the incident and heard the announcement of the disqualification over the tannoy. Oxford racing manager John Cooper was further vindicated in his revised decision when Glasha Tide stopped chasing in her next open at Romford, before turning back and causing a no-race.
2008 Romford general manager Cathy Johnston and Hove boss Simon Horton both leave their posts. It is rumoured that parent company Coral had down graded their position to the equivalent of ‘area manager’ and were demanding that one person should run both tracks. Both chose to walk.
1934 A review of the year states that Britain’s 58 tracks racing ‘under rules’ paid out more than £400,000 in prize money (£27.2m at current values) during the year. However there are mixed views on the 1934 Betting and Lotteries Act. While the bill reversed a four year old decision which made greyhound totalisators illegal, it also introduced the licensing of greyhound tracks. (All existing tracks were deemed to be licensed for the next five years). However, many other restrictions, which would remain in place for another six decades, were also introduced. Tracks would be limited to 104 racedays per year, with a limit of eight races per meetings and to be staged within four hours – excluding four ‘special meetings’ where 16 races were permitted. Racecourse managements were banned from having an interest in bookmaker operations conducted at their track and those bookies could be charged no more than five times the admission charge to attend. No person under the age of 17 would be allowed to bet. No track would be allowed to retain more than 6% of tote turnover and each must fund an accountant appointed by the local authority. Sidney Orton finished top trainer for the year (£8,245), thanks in no small way to Brillliant Bob (Laurels, Scurry, Cesarewitch) who amassed £1,883 (£128K at today’s value).
1969 Wimbledon are said to be extremely disappointed with the crowd for the their New Years eve meeting which included the final of the Puppy Championship. They are unsure whether to blame the crowd, or an experimental fortnight winter break, or for unusually inclement weather. Whatever the reason, only 1,899 paying customers went through the turnstiles compared with 5,380 for the previous year’s corresponding fixture.
1950 Walter Smith, unemployed, of Maids Moreton and Arthur Anderson of South Ockendon are found guilty of breaking into Dagenham Stadium and blowing open a safe with explosives. Their haul was £9, though they also did cause £2,000 worth of damage. They were also found guilty of blowing open a safe at the Odeon Cinema in Hornchurch and stealing £338. Both men received 10 year prison sentences.
1985 Final prize money table Pagan Swallow £26,545, Ballyregan Bob £21,220, Smokey Pete £19,465, Scurlogue Champ £18,705, Fearless Champ £14,520, Ballygroman Jim £11,380, Daleys Gold £10,755, Jet Circle £10,315, Lulus Hero £9,745, Black Whirl £7,955
1997 Australian stud keeper Kevin Richards, the handler of leading sire Chariot Supreme, is fined $15K and his wife $7,500 after falsifying records of matings – ie swapping stud dogs. The couple were found guilty of six charges and acquitted of a further 16.
2010 After being found guilty of causing of permitting greyhounds in his care to incur suffering – a fact he continued to dispute – and being fined in the region of £10,000 by the GBGB, Essex trainer Chris Cronin decides to relinquish his licence.
1994 Kevin Wilde ousts Jarvis Astaire on the executive committee of the NGRC Racecourse Promoters Association. He states: “I would like to think that the small tracks who voted for me felt they wanted young blood or more representation.”
1964 Hi There remains the most prolific sire of open race winners with 181 race wins but is second to Knock Hill Chieftain (129) in terms of prize money, Chieftain’s progeny winning £12,162 compared to Hi There’s £10,610. Third is Crazy Parachute (130) followed by Solar Prince (86), The Grand Prince.
2009 Sports Ministrer Martin Cullen announces a €1.7m (13%) reduction in funding for the Irish greyhound industry in 2010. Paddy Power subsequently announce that they are dropping sponsorship of the Irish Derby.
1988 Police are investigating the discovery of a ‘hide’ overlooking Pam Heasman’s kennel in Nazeing. The camouflaged structure contained sleeping bags and a copy of a Wembley racecard.
1970 Such is the quality of the entry that Crayford extend their Flying Four to become a Flying Five. T1 Sean Na Gaisce (Daily Express Invit), T3 Switch Off (Oaks), T4 Rathduff Spring (Golden Crest, Oxfordshire), T5 Linacre (Edinburgh Cup, Sussex Cup) T6 Wired To Moon (Scurry). The £500 first prize goes to the Jimmy Singleton trained Switch Off (Westpark Mint-Kudas Pinch, Dec 74) who beats Wired To Moon by three lengths in 28.70 for the 462 metres. Pic – Mary Harding & Switch Off
