1958 Clapton handler Clare Orton is appointed as a trainer at Wimbledon. He was invited to apply for the position following the retirement of his father Sidney and will officially take command from February 1.
1996 Paddy Milligan announces that he is to quit training with immediate effect. His former headman Seamus Cahill will take over.
1927 The year opened with one track racing, Belle Vue, but by the winter shut down in October, it had been joined by Birmingham (Hall Green), Bradford (Greenfield), Edinburgh (Powderhall), Harringay Park, Leeds (Fullerton Park), Liverpool (Stanley), and White City (London). There were 262 meetings staged.
2007 The BGRB announce that the prize money grant for 2008 will be £2.73m, an effective increase of £1.50 per runner from the 2007 figure, from £4.50 to £6. The grant is still £250,000 less than in 2006.
1946 Leading owner Mrs Meizen is asked to remove all her greyhounds from West Ham. The Hertfordshire housewife is married to a bookmaker which contravenes the track’s ownership policy. Wembley have a similar rule.
1954 December. The three heats of the Cobb Marathon Bowl at Catford are decimated by kennel sickness, when only nine runners go to traps. Heat one, Ballylennon Laddie (1-5) beats Lissadell Lightning (7-2) by 12 lengths. Heat two, Roving Ways (4-9) beats three others by seven, eight and ten lengths. Heat three, Lizette (2-9) beats two others by nine lengths twice. The final sees a full line up and as Lizette has over 60 spots on heat running on her rivals she is made 1-3 favourite for the 810 yard final. Leading near the seventh bend, Lizette beats the two heat winners Roving Ways and Ballylennon Laddie by 5 3/4 and 2 1/2 lengths in 49.93, just one spots slower than her heat win.
1931 Conscious of avoiding new prohibitive legislation, the National Greyhound Racing Society let it be known that they are “declining to countenance Sunday racing” – the status of which is not clear, but is expected to be firmly outlawed in Parliament in the new year. Meanwhile some flapping tracks have taken advantage only for two to be prosecuted. Following a meeting at St Albans, 22 people were each fined three shillings and fourpence for offences committed under legislation introduced by King Charles II some 300 years earlier.
2010 Paul Hennessy finishes the year as leading Irish trainer with 256 winners from 11,081 runners, a 23.7% success rate. Englishmen Stephen ‘Compass’ Wadsworth and Graham Holland finished second and third respectively. The leading prize money winner in Conor Fahy with €259,286.
1948 Wembley trainer and Waterloo Cup slipper Lesley Reynolds is the first foreigner invited to be the slipper at a Portugese coursing event.
1946 Plans to install a greyhound track at Selhurst Park, the home of Crystal Palace, are rejected by Croydon Council. No one is more relieved than the vicar of Holy Innocents Church at South Norwood, who tells his congregation: “We had high explosive, tons of flying bombs and rockets during the war, and recently we very nearly had greyhound racing.”
1950 Wembley celebrate their 23rd anniversary meeting. Captain A E Brice has been with the stadium since the first meeting. Track vet Col E Middleton-Perry has not missed a race or trial session during that period.
2003 Following a terse stand-off, the bookmaker representatives on the BGRF finally agree to a 75% increase in the prize money grant from £1.5 to £2.7m.
1946 Owner Mr W Margolis sold all his greyhounds in an attempt to avoid the humiliation of being disqualified by the NGRC. His ‘crime’ was being found attending the independent track at Watford.
1956 Wimbledon grader Tillside Badger collapsed and died while being paraded for a race. The post mortem revealed a heart attack.
2001 Vinnie Jones and Ray White are jointly awarded the Greyhound Writers ‘Services to the Greyhound Industry’ award. White is commended for keeping his 2000 English Derby winner Rapid Ranger in training for the successful defence of his title. Jones, who had Smoking Bullet in both finals, is a great ambassador for the sport and has regularly promoted it through the media.
