1961 NGRC racing has two new owner trainers. One of the pair would remain in the industry for the next four decades, John Faint of Waltham Cross.
1948 Ruby Border (Creamery Border-Keel Ruby, 38 finishes the year as the UK’s champion sire. It is a first sire’s championship for a dog who died in December 1946. Border (53) finished with four more winners than closest rival Lone Seal with the outstanding young sire Mad Tanist already at no.3 on the table. A table of the top 11 sires (10th place is shared) shows two sons of Creamery Border (Ruby Border, Manhattan Midnight), three sons of Castledown Lad (Bellas Prince, Baytown Tulip, Captain Brown) and two sons of Tanist (Mad Tanist, Tanimon).
1933 Wimbledon become the first track to announce the racing weights of runners. The scheme was met with “favourable comment.”
1988 Catford owners have been asked to stay away from all trainers kennels following a severe outbreak of kennel sickness.
1977 Trainer Noreen Collin announces her retirement from the greyhound industry. She will sell her kennel at Forest Cottage. Among the dogs she handled were Hi Joe, Magourna Reject, Super Rory and Westpark Quail
1952 Wembley are staging their annual punter’s race for the 25th time. It is a race graded by a local racegoer who is then given dinner in the stadium restaurant.
1961 Sallys Chat manages almost a clean sweep of puppy events for owner Bob Gough and his 27 year old trainer Tony Dennis. His victories include the Northern Puppy Derby at Leeds, the North Of England Puppy Derby at Newcastle, the Manchester Puppy Cup at Belle Vue and the Daggenham Christmas Puppy Cup (now the Romford Puppy Cup). He was also runner-up in the Wimbledon Puppy Derby. That was 11 wins in 14 races and total prize money of just under £1,000 (equiv today of £24,500).
2011 Oxford council announce a re-think on plans to designate the Oxford Stadium site for housing.
1966 Crayford open a new grandstand to replace the building destroyed by fire the previous year.
2015 Mark Wallis topped the table for the seventh time with more than 400 points to spare over Paul Young, just 28 fewer points than the 2014 total. Third-Kevin Hutton, Fourth-Pat Rosney, Fifth-Liz McNair, Sixth-Jimmy Wright. Some 584 trainers contributed to the list.
1971 Youghal becomes the fourth track owned by Bord na gCon when they buy 80% of the company shares for just over £15,000.
1951 Owner/trainer Papps was rushed to hospital after being taken ill while his dog Lambourn Blackflash was being paraded for the heats of the Christmas Vase. The dog duly won his heat and trainer Sidney Orton offered to look after the dog for the final which he duly won.
1961 Three Northern Irishmen, one of them a bookie, are sentenced for an attempted doping attempt of top Irish pup Tanyard Chef. Robert Eric Hughes (Bookie) and James Mills (greengrocer) each receive one year sentences, Thomas McAllister (labourer) get six months.
1962 John Bassett’s Dromin Glory (Gymcrack, Cesarewitch, Select Stakes, Scottish Derby) is the leading open race prize money winner in Britain with £3,725 (equiv today of £91,500). English Derby winner The Grand Canal, bred and trained by Ireland’s Paddy Dunphy is next on the list at £3,300.
2012 Former Hall Green and Perry Barr boss Stephen Rea relinquishes his role as GRA’s PR consultant.
1986 December 12. Ballyregan Bob sets a new world record of 32 consecutive wins in the Racing Post World Challenge at Hove. The race marks the end of Bob’s career. During it he broke 16 track records.
1974 Wembley retain their National Inter-track title after beating Perry Barr in the final.
1952 Wentworth Park announce plans for their forthcoming “64 dog 790 handicap” Sydney Cup. The eight heat winners will receive (the equivalent of) £130, with the final worth £400. (Today £4,500 /£13,400).
1952 Ollys Pal the most exciting youngster in training has gone lame without racing for his new owner, WI Billing. The dog cost £3,000, equivalent today of £100,500).
1986 Poole stage handicap racing for the first time over 632 metres.
1961 Having spent many thousands on new undersoil heating, Harringay are forced to delay a meeting because the hare froze after the fourth race. They eventually resumed racing switching from the McKee-Scott to the track’s standby Sumner hare.
1948 Local Interprize ends the year as the country’s most successful open racer. Wins in the Gold Collar, Welsh Derby, Scurry Cup and Cesarewitch and second place in the Derby bringing his winnings from 37 races to £3,740 – equivalent to £156K today.
1988 Monmore staged a unique event – an eight-runner hurdle final. The £3,000 Midland Champion Hurdle was won by Tom Foster’s Nifty Kid.
1961 After weeks of delay, and extensive enquiries, bookies can find no reason not to pay out on the unusually priced Dagenham open race winner Prego who returned at 40-1.
