2013 Coventry announce they are to cease Sunday racing after September 8 and switch to a Tuesday-Wednesday-Saturday format. Promoter Harry Findlay concedes that the change was brought about by the track being dropped from Racing Post Greyhound TV. He said: “I couldn’t justify keeping it going without the TV revenue. We will only run Sundays when Saturday has to be cancelled for speedway. “The plan is to run a few opens on Tuesday and Wednesday.”
1986 A report by the Monopolies & Mergers Commission recommends an open kennel system. It states: ”We should like to take the opportunity to express our view that, without change, the decline of greyhound racing is likely to continue. One such change would be the progressive breakdown of the barriers between NGRC and independent sectors. This, if achieved in the way we have suggested, with the wider use of stud book names, and improved availability of form details, would, we believe, undoubtedly enhance the reputation of greyhound racing. We would urge all those concerned with the future prosperity of the sport to balance very carefully the benefits which could flow from the adoption of a scheme such as we have recommended against what we believe would be the comparatively modest concessions what it would require.” Despite the two years in research, and the £300,000 bill (around £750K index linked), the recommendations are ignored by the greyhound industry.
1946 Steve (Printer-Verge Of Palm) reckoned to have ‘had a look’ when racing at Wembley, storms away with the Irish Derby Final.
1982 Alfos Pal makes one of the most sensational debuts ever at Cork’s Western Road circuit. Competing over the course where Knockrour Slave held the track record in 29.00, the bitch pup won by 10 lengths clocking 29.20
1992 Romford handler Gary Kelly has three time-finding inquiries within a week including one runner who improved 96 spots on his previous best form.
1951 Catford announce that they are struggling to fulfil their graded commitments. Of the 169 greyhounds on the racing strength, 74 are either lame, sick or in-season.
1964 Poor Linda (Hi There-Kilcomney Queen) set a new 525 track record at Manchester White City and established herself as one of the great sales bargains. Picked up for 500 guineas only a month earlier, she later went on to win the Cloth Of Gold and Pall Mall. Later as a brood, she was to be the great grand dam of Whisper Wishes.
1938 Nannie Goosegog, a bitch who would thrill London and Dublin racegoers was born at Thetford in Norfolk from a litter by Lyton out of Karra Katta ( a sister of World 500yard record holder Roeside Creamery). The fawn bitch made her name at Wandsworth before being sold to ‘Doc’ Callanan (after whom the Cup was named) and exported to Ireland. In Dublin she won 20 consecutive races, running off scratch in handicaps, was beaten once and then won her next 14 in a row. A painting of this great favourite has commissioned and stood for many years in the Gresham Hotel in O’Connell Street.
2002 Bernie Doyle, who was dismissed from Oxford for daring to land a gamble on BAGS – Carloway Don found only 30 spots – is re-united with GRA when becoming the newest trainer at Wimbledon.
1959 August The Edinburgh Cup final at Powderhall is won for the 4th time in a row by Wembley trained greyhounds, when Pigalle Wonder completed a back to back win for owner Mr A Burnett and trainer J Syder. Bred by Champion Prince-Prairie Peg, the brindle whelped in Mar 56, wins the 600 – final in 28.08, last year’s time 28.10.
1971 Following an amendment in the rules of racing, wide runners can be seeded in open races.
1960 Clonalvy Pride, misses his break but still shatters the ‘paciest’ track record on the circuit when clocking 27.24 for the Stamford Bridge 500 yard course. The race is the final of the Chelsea Cup.
2013 Musical Gaga (Hondo Black-ask Louise) is made the 4-6 ante post favourite for the Paddy Power TV Trophy Final at Yarmouth. The Dean Childs trained runner breaks the 843m track record in the heats and duly lands the final by almost six lengths at 1-2.
1979 Monday’s Bran broke the broke the 500 metre track record at Brighton when winning the Sussex Cup in 28.96. Loughlass Champ won the Bedfordshire Derby at Henlow and the Midland Flat at Hall Green. Greenville Boy won the Scottish Derby for Pat Mullins, while Sarahs Bunny added the Eclipse to her English Derby win eights weeks earlier.
2003 Sponsors William Hill announce that the 2004 English Derby will carry a record first prize of £100,000. The deal also sees Hills sponsorship commitment with GRA extended until December 2006.
1937 The Scottish Derby at Carntyne is run in rain, and the 1934/35 winner Olives Best takes part for the fourth time, but is eliminated in the heats.
1975 August 16 The 42nd running of the Scottish Derby at Shawfield sees Parry Barr gain their first victory, when Mrs N Vint’s Dromlara Master (Own Pride-Monalee Last) holds off the strong challenge of Paddy Keane’s Irish-trained Macbeth (Yanka Boy-Gallant And Gay) by a length in 29.30.
1948 Mr M O’Hara, the racing manager at Charlton amazed doctors by overcoming a life threatening illness. In the first race of his first meeting back as a grader the field crossed the line, sh, sh, sh, sh sh.
2015 Harlow racing manager Mark Schallenberg reveals that his kennel strength is only 85 dogs from which he has to grade two meetings. 15 of the total are trained by Anne Kirby who only enters runners for the Saturday card. Her remaining runners race at Mildenhall. Things are only slightly better at Wimbledon with 160 dogs (though that includes 12 races on BAGS). They had plummeted to 120 earlier in the year.
1768 Captain Cook sets sail for Australia with two thoroughbred greyhounds on board. It is not known whether they were still alive when he discovered Australia in April 1770.
1986 Belle Vue trainer Carol Evans, whose recent five-timer was alleged to have cost bookies many thousands of pounds, has had her contract terminated.
1971 White City introduce a new event, the Westway Cup. Staged over 725 yards and worth £500 to the winner, the event is restricted to dogs who have never raced beyond 550 yards.
1952 The NGRC announce plans for a six month trial for introducing a two pound weight variation limit – rule 21a. The idea has been in constant operation at Wimbledon since 1928.
1942 Ballynennan Moon (Bd d Mr Moon-Banriogan Dan, Apr 39) trained by Sidney Orton at Wimbledon is going through a purple patch, winning heat and finals of the Holiday Cup over 500 yards at Wimbledon, the Summer Cup over 525 yards at Wembley and the Eclipse over 525 yards at Coventry.
1982 Ardralla Victory wins Coventry’s Eclipse following an unusual qualification. The semi finals of the stake were due to be part of a meeting cancelled to mechanical failure. Instead of postponing the semis, the Coventry management, in conjunction with the NGRC, drew the names of the six finalists from a hat. Ardralla Victory’s 28.67 was equalled by Mt Keeffe Star in the ‘consolation’.
1993 RGT national organiser is infuriated with East Enders when an episode of the TV series depicts a scene whereby a slow greyhound is to be killed with a shotgun. The storyline, which is filmed at Henlow, eventually turns out to be positive when the luckless Freda (in reality a former Mildenhall grader) becomes a retired pet in the series.
1960 . Surrey trainer Jim Maws is so confident of the ability of her marathon bitch Glittering Lark that he asks NGRC permission to stage a match race over one mile. Permission is refused, ,the maximum race distance allowed under NGRC rules is Catford’s 1180 yards.
1948 Six greyhounds, from a total consignment of nine, are found dead in a windowless railway carriage at Crewe station. It had taken nine hours to reach the destination from Hollyhead. The dogs had been destined for London.
1996 Track promoters vetoed a plan for ten programmes on SKY Sports Two which would cost the tracks £10,000 per meeting, before the additional cost of feature open racing. Spokesman Clive Feltham said: “For that we were to be put on SKY Sports 2, not the main sports channels with an estimated audience of 200,000 viewers. Quite frankly we don’t see ourselves paying to go on TV, particularly not for such a small audience. If it had been major network TV for £10,000 we would have jumped at it like a shot. But we’ve been taking advice from various experts in the field and we only see it as a matter of time before TV comes to us. Digital TV is just around the corner and there are a multitude of different channels who will be crying out for sport of all types. I’m not saying that we can go around demanding big fees, but we certainly wouldn’t expect to be paying for the privilege of supplying the product.”
2004 The NGRC admit that nandrolone can be detected in bitches for upto 100 days after it was administered. They had previously claimed that the drug, widely used as a season suppressant, would break down after 28 days and had fined dozens of trainers on that basis. During one of those inquiries, a trainer stated: “It says in the Greyhound Star that this drug can stay in the system for months.” She was told by a steward: “You don’t want to believe everything you read in a stupid newspaper.”
