2004 The BGRB have a record £10.3m budget to allocate for 2005 (equiv to £16.4m today). Prize money get the biggest share at £3m (up 10%). The RGT budget rises from £850,000 to £1.3m.
1986 Irish reporter John Martin attacks the recent world record breaking achievements of Ballyregan Bob. Martin claims greyhound folk on both sides of the Irish Sea were “taken in by the hype.” He writes that Bob “never had the pot luck of taking any draw or going hell for leather into the first bend at Shelbourne Park, and never once tackled the classic distance of 550 yards, bypassing the English Derby as well. How anyone can claim him to be the best of all time is beyond me. To do so is to sully the good name of greyhounds (specifically Mick The Miller), who have gone before him.”
2011 New Years Ever heralds acknowledgements of two stellar careers. Charlie Lister has been awarded the Order of the British Empire in commendation for services to greyhound racing. Meanwhile Norah McEllistrim collects the Greyhound Writers vote for services to the Greyhound industry.
1974 GRA plans to build a greyhound facility at Bedford Town FC are thwarted when they cannot obtain a 20 year lease. The football club have a ten year lease but the owners of the freehold, a local brewery, are not prepared to extend it.
1938 Trainer Joe Harmon sets a new prize money record for a year of £12,600 (equiv to £870K today) beating the previous best, set by Sidney Orton of £12,509 in 1930. There were just over 900 open races staged during the year and total prize money of £68,000. Overall prize money, including graded races was £140,000. The NGRC registered 5,908 new greyhounds.
1999 Greyhound racing features on two top ranking TV programmes within a week. Coronation Street carried a story line filmed at Weshoughton. Then ‘The Bill’ ran an unflattering storyline filmed at Rye House.
1955 English Derby and Blue Riband winner Pauls Fun is beaten in a graded race at Wembley.
1971 GRA announce that they have exchanged contracts for a £2,180,000 purchase on a 11 acre site in Wood Lane, Shepherds Bush which will be the home of the ‘new White City’. The current 16 acre site has already been sold. GRA published sketches of their new stadium some two years ago. It will be a new one-sides stadium with eight-runner fields.
1987 James McCloskey offers four eight-week old litter brothers for sale by Kyle Jack out of Milwaukee Lady for £520 each. Their sister Farloe Mineola – who will appear as dam (grand dam etc) lines of Fear Zafonic, Ninja Jamie, I’m Okay, Glenroe Ginger. . .is not for sale.
1995 Oaks winner Sadlers Return is sold to the ill-fated, Anderson Churchill Bloodstock.
1996 Ernie Gaskin jnr, who has only recently returned from a spell training in the USA, takes over the Walthamstow based kennel from his father following the latter’s major heart operation.
2004 Monmore punters are licking their wounds in the first round of the Ladbrokes Festival of Racing. All eleven favourites are turned over including Lark Boe (4-9f), Farloe Picture (4-5f), One Yard (4-9f), Elderberry Veron (1-2f) and Farloe Divide (1-4f).
1984 Swindon introduce a new 510 metre distance to replace the 530 metre trip.
1965 Miss Whirl sets a new prize money world record for a year with $75,951 – roughly £27,125. The top British earner, Chittering Clapton picked up £5,714.
1974 Hurdler Try It Blackie is the year’s most prolific open winner with 21 victories. The Frank Melville trained hurdler has not been out of the first two in his last 23 races (£1,936 prize money-index linked to around £24K). Not bad for a dog sold at Hackney sales for 48 guineas.
1999 While awaiting funds to arrive to cover the payments owed to Canterbury trainers, the NGRC write cheques to the value of £10,470 which are forwarded to those trainers.
2004 Andrew Gough from Tiryberth is jailed for six months after being found guilty of bludgeoning an ex-Welsh independent, attempting to cut offs its ears, and then abandoning it on Fochriw Mountain near Merthyr Tydful. Gough had been paid £10 by the dog’s former owner to dispose of it.
1996 John McGrath, a former chairman of the Irish Greyhound Owners & Breeders Federation is awarded IR£15,000 after successfully suing the The Sporting Press for libel.
1980 Local hurdler Dine Out sets a new 460m track record in a graded race at Wimbledon clocking 28.29.
1973 With Britain’s 42 NGRC tracks congratulating themselves on avoiding the Government’s electric lighting ban on outdoor events – they all bought generators – a new order determines that the ban remains, whether the electric is supplied by a company, or by the tracks themselves. Crayford and Gosforth continue to race, arguing that since their racing circuits are under roofs, they are not ‘outdoor events’. Most tracks switch to matinee meetings at the weekend.
1974 John Coleman prepares the British team for the upcoming International in Miami by giving them trials on Rye House’s inside lure. Quickest of the group is Guineas winners Money Again.
2004 Walthamstow attract a crowd of over 4,000 people for their Bank Holiday Monday card.
