1967 In his Brighton newsletter, Racing Manager Peter Shotton suggests going allowances are of limited use. He argues that the air temperature and humidity have a greater effect on going than the condition of the track. He is currently experimenting with readings to determine whether the additional information might be incorporated. It is not a new idea. For many years Wimbledon boss Con Stevens insisted on temperature readings on the track.
2013 Romford relent by accepting entries from Ricky Holloway. He had been banned from both Coral tracks after withdrawing runners from the National Hurdle six months earlier.
1977 Mutts Silver, winner of the 1976 Derby and Dundalk International is retired after tearing a shoulder muscle in the Derby semi finals.
1976 Independent Peterborough stage the 24th East Midlands Greyhound Derby with their own ideas on prize money. The 36 runner event will carry £325 added prize money and a winner’s prize of £806!
2012 BAGS deputy secretary John Johnson leaves the organisation with immediate effect.
1949 14-1 Derby chance Esse Major has to be put to sleep after hitting the inside rail in his first round heat.
2012 A Sunderland BAGS race is void when a wild rabbit jumps onto the track near the third bend. Rabbit and greyhounds all come through unscathed.
1946 White City announce that the Derby finalists will not be required to kennel until 10pm.
2013 Former trainer Chris Cronin lost his case against GBGB over alleged mistreatment of puppies. The case went all the way to the Court Of Appeal resulting in costs of more than £10K in addition to the original £750 fine.
1967 A row is taking place in the racing press between Joe Haden, chief advocate of sand racing surfaces, and trainer Pat Mullins who believes that sanded bends cause injury. Haden’s supporters include the Kings Heath boss who remarks that most sand injuries appear to be caused by bad preparation.
1951 White City install a second photo finish camera, located high in the grandstand, to assist the judge should the print from the ground level camera prove inconclusive.
1987 Over 1,500 punters attend Shawfield’s first meeting back after an extended closure.
2013 A Mildenhall S5 race, scheduled for five runners, is reduced to three, all of which are trained by Anne Kirby. The 4-6f of the trio wins by 12 lengths.
1976 Clopook Ivy, ignominiously disqualified for fighting in the previous year’s Irish Derby quarter finals, returns to contest the heats of the Wexford Leger and wins her heat by a distance. However, she was then disqualified on a technicality, for being entered in a major stake without having contest two more races following her clearing trials.
2012 Having retired from racing once already, only to come back five months later, Jimmy Lollie (World Class-Droopys Kara, Aug 07) is retired for the second and final time after damaging a gracliis in an open race at Hove. The 2011 Greyhound of the Year went to traps on 134 occasions – all opens – spread over three years and four months. His record was 1st-76 2nd-26, 3rd-9, 4th-11, 5th-7, 6th-5. He broke the sprint records at Hove (x3), Wimbledon (x2) and Swindon. He won from every trap – in fact he was never beaten from trap six. Victories included the National Sprint (x2), Festival Flyer (x2) and Coral Sprint (x2)
2013 Just hours before the Derby final, sponsors William Hill announce that they have added an additional £10K for beaten finalists. The prize money is now: 1st £150K, 2nd £10K, 3rd £6K, 4th & 5th £5k and 6th £4,500.
1950 Wimbledon introduce a breakthrough in photo finish technology. Until now, the print merely showed the position of the dogs crossing the winning line. The new system, which goes virtually unchanged for the next 50 years, also shows times along the bottom of the print to coincide with the time that each dog has recorded as he crosses the winning line. In a separate development, GRA’s Francis Gentle tells the Royal Commission on Gaming that it costs £2,000 per year to operate a photo finish system (index linked to roughly £60,000).
1976 Four years after taking a job as a part-time groundsman at Brighton, while he studied at teacher training college, Des Nicholls is appointed as racing manager at Romford. In the interim, he was assistant RM at Brighton and then racing manager at Rochester. Nicholls is soon promoted to general manager at Romford but left soon after for a career in journalism.
1995 Ladbrokes announce the odds they will lay to the owner of a young pup (nine months or younger) going on to win the English Derby – 1,500-1. for some strange reason the odds drop to 600-1 about it winning the Irish Derby, or Golden Jacket or St Leger and 100-1 about any category one event.
2000 Oxford give out the wrong result of a photo finish and don’t realise their error until checking result sheets half an hour after the race.
1975 The Irish Derby attracts 109 entries of which 17 are British based.
1998 He Knows is retired to stud after picking up a gracilis injury in an open race at Brough Park.
