1984 Faced with the prospect of major disruption from ‘antis’ the Waterloo Cup committee unexpectedly move the dates of the Waterloo Cup forward by two weeks, giving just a week’s notice before the first course.
2008 Barrie Draper announces that he will leave Sheffield to concentrate on open racing only. (Okay – so we are using a ‘slightly older’ pic!! – Ed)
1997 Charlie Lister is left fuming following a £750 fine for the positive test for Spring Rose.
1977 The final of the televised Ladbroke Golden Jacket at Harringay over 660 metres and worth £1,000 and trophy to the winner goes to Sindy’s Flame (bk b Monalee Champion-Dolores Rocket, May 74). The 11-10 favourite leads all the way, winning by 1 3/4 lengths I 40.99. This is her second Grand of the month, having won the Winter Stayers Stakes at Hackney over 669 metres. She is trained by John Honeysett.
2009 Yarmouth bookies mount a protest at grading by returning two grades races to 213% and 190%.
1986 Belle Vue bookmakers took exception to Killinane Slave’s participation in a top heat graded event. They were so sure he would win that they chalked up 1-8f against the Michael Compton trained dog and no prices against the other five. Slave duly won by two lengths.
1998 Stadia UK announce that they have applied to build a massive new track on the existing site at the Ashlands.
1947 Wembley announce that gross profits in 1946 were £610,000 (around £24.3m at today’s values). However £343,500 was taken by the Government in tax leaving £219,777 (up from £66,000 the previous year) – around £8.7m at current values.
2008 Former Walthamstow record holder Jazz Hurricane (Top Honcho-Lucy May) is retired from racing. During a sensational career, she won 34 opens including the Circuit, Olympic and Brighton Belle.
1968 Duggie Tyler publishes his Derby ante post book. Joint 20-1 favourites are As You Wish, Shady Parachute and Nancys Flash. Parachute makes the final but is beaten by Camira Flash who is 25-1 in Tyler’s book but will still be a 100-8 chance on final night.
2009 The GBGB appoints its first press officer in James McCreadie
1973 Irish training legend Dick Ryan, three times a Waterloo Cup winner, lands his first Irish Coursing Derby with Near You Sir. It is the fourth time in five years that Newdown Heather has sired the Derby winner. The Oaks goes to Move Duchess owned by Dympna Reddan
1980 Creditors of the British Greyhound Racing Federation are informed that the defunct organisation was wound up owing around £50,000.
1950 Harringay stewards call a stewards enquiry into the identities of litter brothers Hungarian Glen and Hungarian Genius. Although the dogs corresponded correctly with their identity cards, the colours of the pair were incorrectly recorded on racecards. Glen was white and blue. Genius was white and black. The racecard had the colours the wrong way round. Amazingly, the dogs had raced three times without track staff or punters noticing the error.
1963 Ante post books make Dromin Glory the 9-1 favourite to win the English Derby. But over-eager punters will be out of luck, of the 77 dogs listed, only one, the 25-1 chance Hack It About (4th), will make it to the decider.
1977 Minnesota Yank, a full brother to the ’76 winner Minnesota Miller, beats favourite Hollypark Kiwis to land the Waterloo Cup.
2009 The IGB announce that attendances in 2008 were down by 12 per cent. Tote betting fell by 8% and bookmaker betting by almost 18%.
1987 Following a little noticed change in NGRC rules – forced on them by the Monopolies Commission – Oxford attached trainer Terry Atkins creates history when he has a graded runner at Wembley. Dusty Candle was already known to patrons at the Empire Stadium where he had contested a number of minor opens. A Greyhound Star editorial asks whether this could be the start of an open kennel system in Britain.
1958 Harolds Cross stage their first greyhound sale in many years. To operate it, they call on the services of the 200 year old British auctioneers, Aldridges.
1963 In an interview, the great Sidney Orton reveals some of the trials and tribulations experienced by the industry in its early days. He says: “I don’t think many of us thought it would last. I didn’t think that greyhounds would carry on chasing that mechanical hare. “But they did and out of the original complement at Burhill made up of coursing greyhounds, only a small number in fact gave up chasing the lure. “We were farming in Norfolk – coursing was our hobby – and I sold 17 dogs to run in the first greyhound meeting at Belle Vue, Manchester in 1926. We got £10 each for them and £170 was a lot of money then. “Times were tough on the land then – they didn’t look after farmers when the first war ended like they did after the second one. Then one day, one of my friends said, ‘Why don’t you try to get a job at one of those greyhound tracks?’ That’s how I came to Burhill.” Sidney remembers those early Wimbledon days, before Mr WJ Cearns took over the stadium, when the first owners ran short of money. When all the lighting, heat and water were cut off to the kennels and bungalow. But thankfully, he held out. On another topic he recalled the day he finally bought Ballyhennessy Sandhills after prolonged bargaining with the dog’s Irish owner. In those days, there was a 40 per cent import duty on imported greyhounds. To make matters worse, the Customs and Excise officers tried to claim that the dog was worth £4,000. Sidney recalls: “There were even questions in the House of Commons on just how much duty we had paid.”
