Yarmouth are the latest track to consider ‘going full circle’ by building their own kennel block for stadium owned racing dogs.
The original kennels were built by stadium founder Len Franklin in 1939. They were handed over to resident trainer Charlie Ashley and eventually Dick Keable. The original buildings were knocked down more than 20 years ago with the space taken up by an expanded racing paddock.
But with concerns over the declining number of trainers, Len’s grandson, and current promoter Simon Franklin, is hedging his bets.
He said: “We own the land along the bypass and the heliport closed down about a month ago so there is plenty of space.
“At this stage, we are simply drawing up plans for probably 60 dogs with no immediate ambition to build them.
“But who is to say what will happen further down the line! At the moment we have 296 dogs on the strength; when we first applied for BAGS, we had 270, so there is certainly no crisis. We are just considering all our options.”
Franklin has also noted a change in attitude among many of the track trainers.
He said: “The outlook seemed to change once we given our BAGS contract. For years, most of the trainers seemed happy to run their dogs for fun. Now, many of them want to earn a living out of them, and the money simply isn’t there.”
