1976 October 1 Maidstone hold their inaugural meeting, with the track around the Maidstone United football pitch. E Luper and Associates Greyhounds Ltd welcome a huge crowd for the first meeting, which goes off without a hitch. The first race over 443 metres is won by an all-femal eteam, when fawn bitch La Espada (Monalee Pride-Potentilla, Jan’75) owned by Mrs M McGruth and trained locally by Mrs P Butler, wins in 29.43.
1983 The biggest greyhound around is Duke Of Abbey, a fawn and white giant, who has just won a £1,000 coursing stake in Ireland and weighs no less than 100lbs (45.4kg). Sired by Ballyglass Rusty, who himself weighed 86lbs, out of Easter Eathy, he is the heaviest courser since Master Myles (Flying Merry-Better Get On) at 94lbs, who won the Clonmel Derby in 1978.
1995 Dungannon track is sold for an undisclosed figure to Martin Malone and Gerry Conway. The track had been auctioned but bidding had stopped at £125,000 – well short of the £300,000 reserve.
1953 Baytown Colt (Babs Choice-Baytown Angel) who won the Puppy Derby earlier in the year at Harolds Cross, has been bought for 75 guineas by American airmen based at South Ruislip.
2004 The Times reports that Wembley is set to sell its GRA tracks for a price between £40-£50m. Five months later the prophecy comes true at a cost of £50.3m.
1997 Ground Zero is made 25-1 favourite for the 1997 English Derby after winning the Trafalgar Cup in 28.85 for 490m at Wembley.
2001 Owner Roy Felmingham takes legal advice after his open race stayer Killeacle Phoebe is disqualified for fighting at Crayford. The brindle had previously been disqualified in an open at Romford and is now unable to race again.
Owner Roy Felmingham with KILLEACLE PHOEBE — pic Steve Nash
1999 Swindon announce the departure of 20 non-professional or smaller trainers. Swindon spokesman Bill Glass claims that only around 20 current graders will be affected.
1968 Sheffield owner George Adams becomes the first Englishman to win the Irish St Leger at Limerick, with his white and fawn Pools Punter (Oregon Prince-Wild Countess, Jul’66). The 9-2 chance leads around the last two bends and draws away to win by four lengths in 30.88 for the 550 yard classic. Flaming King, who had Pools Punter behind him in second place when he won the Laurels earlier in the year starts at 1-2 favourite after he set new figures of 30.54 in the heats and 30.48 in the semi-finals. But he is very slow away and impeded at the start and never shows.
1972 John Benstead dies aged 88. One of the pioneers of greyhound racing, he was Chairman and Director of Catford Stadium, which he built with his partner F N Sutton in 1932.
1997 Chicago Blue wins the first running of the TAB Topgun in Melbourne. Awesome Assassin finished second ahead of Roanokee and Hove minor open racer Farloe Brook (6th). American Pat C Caste finishes last.
1934 Oct 9 Mick The Cavalier (Mick The Miller-Toftwood Misery) owned by Mrs Arundel H Kempton and trained by Sidney Orton at Wimbleton wins the second running of The British Breeders Produce Stakes at Catford, having last month won The British National Produce Stakes at London White City.
1999 Walthamstow’s Chris Duggan departs to join Romford with Linda Jones heading in the opposite direction.
2004 The Coventry stewards face the wrath of punters when declining to void a £500 invitation race. The stewards decided that the result was unaffected after the hare’s outer cover came off leaving the dogs to chase the ‘naked’ trolley.
1993 Eastenders announce that they will feature a greyhound in their forthcoming episodes. Freda (racing name Larkin About) leaves a graded career at Mildenhall where she is trained by Minna Liddle.
1954 Back in July ‘51 Frank Johnson had won the Scottish Derby at Carntyne with Rushton Smutty. But the event was cancelled for the next two years due to insufficient entries. It was eventually revived in October 1954, and the final on the 9th saw Rushton Mac (Rushton Mews-Rushton Panda, Jun’52) owned and trained by the same Frank Johnson, takes the 525 yard final worth £500 and trophy in 29.20. It is the longest back-to-back double in the history of the sport.
1959 (BELOW) After winning the Pall Mall at Harringay, the Select Stakes at Wembley, and the English, Welsh and Scottish Derbies at White City, Arms Park and Carntyne respectively, Mr I V Purvis’s Mile Bush Pride (The Grand Champion-Witching Dancer, Aug’56) crowns a great year by winning the final classic, the Cesarewitch at West Ham. Bred by Mrs Nora Johnston from Campile, Co Wexford, and trained at Wembley by Jack Harvey, Mile Bush Pride the 2-7 favourite, easily wins the 600 yard final and the £1,000 winners prize (and trophy valued £50) to bring his owner nearly £5,000 in prize money for the year. In recording 32.66 seconds for the event, he sets a clocking for the final which would never be bettered. He previously broke the course record in the heats with 32.65, beating the old record by 34 spots.
