It has taken over 11 years in the making, but Towcester has now established itself as the Derby venue that greyhound supporters always hoped it would be . . . . though quite what the future holds remains to be seen writes Floyd Amphlett.
Towcester was built for the big occasion and after years of penny pinching by GRA – leading to the embarrassment of a cheapside/cheapskate Wimbledon Derby in the latter years – Towcester was a breath of fresh air when it first hosted the event back in 2017.
Even Lord Hesketh’s biggest critics would have to acknowledge that he didn’t skimp on a damn thing – but that was the problem. After two excellent Derbys, the place went bust in late 2018.
Nottingham stood-in admirably, and made a very decent show of it, even managing to save the Covid threatened event in 2020. But the Colwick Park track is a ’52 week’ venue, not the sort of place that could easily facilitate a Derby Final crowd.
Where can though?
Though Towcester’s greatest strength, is also its Achiles Heel.
When promoter Kevin Boothby reflects on the 2023 Greyhound Derby, he is conflicted. The greyhound racing fan v the businessman.
“I absolutely loved it. It was a fabulous night. There were probably around 2,800 people through the gate including the complimantaries that we give to the trainers. There was some top class greyhound racing and the atmosphere was unbelievable.”
“I honestly don’t know what we will do next year but I can’t keep going on losing money. We have probably done £100,000 this year, just as we did last year. Then there was all that extra security because of Animal Rising. It cost a fortune. My accountant thinks I’m mad. Something will have to change.”
Two statements – the same Kevin Boothby.
The same Towcester – and the issues that Hesketh faced haven’t gone away (albeit he was never able to secure a decent media rights deal).
Spot the clues though a series of statements:
“We are paid less by the bookies for staging a Derby meeting than Crayford get paid for a Saturday afternoon 14 race card.”
“Suffolk Downs is a better business than Towcester.”
“In terms of footfall, Henlow is in a better location than Towcester .”
“With electricity prices going up so much in the last year, our bill is £20K per month which is why we don’t open on Friday and Saturday nights in the winter.”
Now Boothby critics, of which there are many, will be eager to point out, ‘None of this should come as any sort of shock. You knew that when you took the place on’.
True. But some of the intended solutions haven’t fallen into place.
For example, what of the plans to turn the site into a ‘weekend festival venue with facilities for glamping?’ And what has happened to the other planned ‘non greyhound’ events on the site that would help to finance the site as a whole?
Kevin said: “Like a lot of businesses, we had the Covid hangover that restricted us running events during the summer of 2021. Last year, we were so under the cosh with work at Oxford and Suffolk Downs that Towcester was neglected. There are plans to tackle that going forward.
“As far as the glamping was concerned. We bought a load of luxury pods that are sitting on pallets at Towcester. Our problem has been the local council. They say we needed planning permission for them. They also said we needed planning permission for a sand gallop, so we had to dig it up.
“They have also been on telling us to take down the white fence around the track. I explained that we needed it to protect the track from the wind and allow us to keep the running surface with enough moisture. (Something that blighted the Hesketh tenure).
“Their excuse is that Towcester is a ‘heritage’ site, but they seem to be going out of their way to make life difficult for us despite the potential trade and employment that we could bring to the town.”
So what is the situation regarding the Derby, an event jointly sponsored by Star Sports?
Kevin said: “As things stand, the £302,000 prize fund is not sustainable. The winner’s prize at Nottingham in 2019 was £100,000 and for the Covid year, it was £50,000.
“As a greyhound man, I was determined that it shouldn’t be less than £175,000, more if we could manage it. In my view, the Greyhound Derby is the catalyst for racing in Britain and Ireland. It encourages owners to buy good dogs which forces up the price and gives breeders the confidence to produce more pups.
“But don’t expect me to keep subsidising it. I would literally make money running 12 graded sprints every meeting over six weeks, not lose money, as I do by running the Derby.
“I believe the bookmakers should be paying more for the no.1 prestige event in the calendar. I also think, given its importance to the industry as a whole, that the BGRF should make a contribution.”
“Let’s not forget, the other tracks and organisations had the chance to take on the Derby and they didn’t want to know. Now, I would be quite confident that the greyhound public as a whole would want the event held here. In my view, it is the only place suitable to stage a Derby.”
(* It is worth noting that unlike last year when there were 192 paid entries, this year there were 19 empty traps in the first round @ £250 each).
“I’m also disappointed that we haven’t had a contribution from GBGB for security. I have no problems covering it normally, it is a business expense. But the campaign by Animal Rising wasn’t about Towcester, it was an attack on the greyhound industry as a whole.”
Boothby and his appointed PR Company Fortitude Communications were on the front foot as the national media followed the Animal Rising Campaign.
Indeed, Kevin gave a radio interviewer both barrels when he suggested that the RSPCA had evidence to back up their claim that racing was a cruel sport.
He said: “I told the bloke to learn his facts before he made those kind of statements. We have our facts but the RSPCA won’t produce theirs. We keep asking them. Why won’t they? Because they are simply trying to use greyhound racing to raise funds. They don’t have a leg to stand on.”
There is almost 11 months before the next English Derby is due to get underway and, one way or another, it is likely to be structured quite differently from this one.
In less than six months time, SIS’s biggest customer and most significant supplier of product, Entain, switch to a new business partnership with the Arena Racing Company.
Oxford and Towcester will probably gain the prime betting slots, notably Friday and Saturday nights. There will certainly be no repeat of this year when RPGTV managed to feature a 3-runner Crayford A10 race between two Derby card supporting opens.
Will the Derby still be held at Towcester following its best year to date. The form held up, there were no traps or going issues. . . a great success story to build on surely?
Only Kevin Boothby knows.
Though like a lot of shrewd business people in this industry, particularly among the ownership ranks, there are times when their passionate greyhound enthusiasm completely overwhelms their astute business brains.
So one last Derby Final night quote:
“In all my time at Towcester, I’ve never really felt a sense of unity like it. There was support from the other tracks, and because of the antis, we all felt like we were in this together. The Irish support was great too, both with the quality of the runners, and people turning up for the final.
“I had a couple of winners on the night and as I was going to the podium for the presentations, so many people stopped me to shake my hand and thank me for putting the competition on.
“I’ve never known anything like it. It was a great Derby and a fabulous final night. These are my six favourite weeks of the year.”
That doesn’t sound like a man preparing any kind of exit strategy . . . .
SAVANA TOP CAT greyhoundtrader.com Stakes presentation – Kevin Boothby centre, Phil Hamblin holding the winner. Photo: © Steve Nash
