1949 Frank Davis – who is on remand for £100 bail with his two brothers Sidney and Aaron for conspiring to obtain prize money and trophies from greyhound race promoters by falsely representing the age and identity of greyhounds – arrives at London White City just in time for the 9.20 open race. His Red Wind, at 6-5 favourite storms home by eight lengths to pick up £250 and a silver trophy presented to him by Major Percy Brown. He had earlier been at Catford, where another of his dogs, Drumgoon Boy, won an open at 13-8 on.
2013 Monmore racing manager Jim Woods retires after 40 years in the industry.
1952 A dual booking for Dixie Minstrel saw him contest the Harlesdon Trophy Final at Park Royal during the afternoon and the Calcutta Cup at Hendon the same evening. He finished fourth and second respectively.
1937 The first greyhound to cross the Irish Sea by Air is Lone Keel. A hitch in his registration prevents him from taking part in a puppy competition at West Ham, but he stays over with private trainer S Wright, who steers him to four wins out of six races during the month.
1966 The eccentric owner Rupert Cobb has passed away. From the Kent brewing family, Cobb was prolific sponsor, but always of staying races and the Cobb Marathon was a popular event at Catford. Cobb’s other love was astrology and he claimed to have tipped many winners by following star signs. The heavens would also dictate whether or not to attend greyhound sales.
2000 Harlow lose their sponsor for the Thousand Guineas when the GBGB bar bookmaker Joe Jennings for not paying contributions to the BGRF.
1950 Three ‘expert’ safecrackers steal £15,000 in cash (£630,000 – today’s value) from the strong room at Catford Stadium. The masked raiders arrived by car, one scaled the wall and opened the main gate. The trio bound and gagged the two night watchmen and used gelignite for three separate explosions. Although they reduced the strong-room door “to ribbons”, they used old tote bags to dampen the explosion and there was minimal damage. The thieves were in the stadium for around two hours and departed without the estimated £1,500 (£63,000) worth of silver items including trophies that were also kept in the strong room.
1991 A major row breaks out in Ireland when the chairman of the Irish Greyhound Owners and Breeders Federation, John McGrath, tells a Government investigating committee that greyhound racing should be disassociated with the Irish Coursing Club. McGrath argues that it should no longer be a requirement for all owners to be members of a coursing club. He also calls for the setting up of a new stud book. McGrath states that he is concerned that the connection between the two sports will damage greyhound exports, pointing to new legislation already passed in Winsconsin which forbids any person in the greyhound industry to be associated with anyone involved in killing of live lures. The ICC are furious with the result that the Sporting Press launch a campaign to force McGrath to resign.
1983 Scottish businessman Jim Glass takes over the greyhound operations at Brough Park and Gosforth. He immediately introduces a string of measures that have owners up in arms. First, he withdraws owners passes (and replaces them with a reduced entry fee of £1). He then increases the annual rent of the track kennels from £600 to £3,000 and introduces a £2 entry fee for all races.
2001 Perry Barr trainer Francis O’Hare is devastated when nine dogs die of poisoning from infected knacker meat. Tests reveal that a cocktail of barbiturates and local anaesthetics used in the humane killer in horses is responsible.
1944 February 26. A group of Wimbledon employees were engaged in a heavy duty card school and decided to ignore air raid warnings. Within minutes, the stadium was being showered with 600 incendiary bombs. No one was hurt, though the main stand, offices, kitchen and totalisator were all destroyed. Racing was shut down for two weeks and, according one slightly miffed employee, there was no sign of a rather large winnings kitty.
1992 John Cearns, chairman of the promoters association dies unexpectedly aged 73. His position is taken by old friend Charles Chandler who steps down as MD of GRA. Chandler’s role is taken by Clive Feltham.
1984 February 19-22 From the eve to the end of the Waterloo Cup at Altcar, hunt saboteurs cause constant criminal damage, trespassing and intimidation against coursing spectators. But despite their efforts the event is run off with Pat Kilcoyne and Terry McCann’s Tubbertelly Queen (Scotch Lundy-Miss Queenie) winning the final easily as her opponent and last year’s runner-up, Final Words, came home lame after a collision. Tubbertelly Queen, when winning the 140th running of the event, she became the first bitch to win since 1929, and her trainer Pat Kilcoyne, must rate as one of the youngest at just 17 years. Ace track trainer, Ger McKenna, tipped off Pat the previous year about Tubbertelly Queen, when she was known as Nothing On an d had won a trial stake, and later reached the semi-final of the Oaks at Clonmel under her new name.
2002 Racing Post journalist ‘Admiral’ Benbow tips the first nine consecutive winners at Catford – combined odds 210,000-1.
1976 The Chingford Marathon is a Yarmouth carve-up. The 4-6f Butchers Trac, bred by Yarmouth trainer Robin White, is beaten a short head by Young Hostess, trained at the Norfolk stadium’s kennels by Dick Keable and owned by the promoter’s wife Ida Franklin.
1960 In a competitive market, tracks try to outdo each other with the quality or variety of their racing. Harringay’s eight race all-open meeting on February 8 features one race over the 525 ‘chase’ course (a hurdle race with an extra set of jumps along the back straight), plus five races over 700 yards, a 700 yard hurdle and a 880 yard marathon. Wimbledon stage a graded meeting when five of the eight races are over 700 yards. Meanwhile the stadium owners GRA announce that no greyhound meeting at any of its tracks will last longer than two hours (7-30-9.30pm) for the evening meetings.
1996 Alans Rose and Coolmona Road share 11-4 joint favouritism for the Ladbrokes Golden Jacket. They both reach the final with Road prevailing in 45.75.
1975 Tommy Baldwin, the former Perry Barr trainer, dies after a long illness. He was 77. A trainer of many open race winners, two of his best were Red Tan, who won the Cesarewitch at West Ham, and prolific open race winner over all distances, Model Dasher.
1985 Eleven years after the introduction of the permit scheme, the NGRC announce plans to extend it. The new scheme will allow ‘full’ NGRC tracks to stage permit meetings in addition to their regular meetings. In addition, permit trainers will be able to run their dogs in open races at all tracks.
1951 Cork General Manager Bill O’Brien collapses and dies on the coursing field at Powerstown Park in Clonmel. He was attending to his runner Vedette who was favourite for the Derby.
2012 London mayor Boris Johnson refuses to rule out an L&Q plan to turn Walthamstow Stadium into housing. He states: “I am acutely aware of the feelings of those who want to see it (the track) back to its best, but I however duty-bound to consider the scheme on all its merits.”
1946 February 27 Owen Patrick Smith dies. Who is he, you ask? Well, he was the man he patented the first mechanical hare in the USA in 1912, which eventually found its way to Belle Vue in 1926. At Miami Beach Kennel Club, the O P Smith Memorial Classic was staged for many years in his honour.
1976 February 14 Stuart Captain (Randeen Stuart-Here For You, Jun 74), the 2-1 favourite trained by John Coleman, wins the Springbok Trophy over 500m at London White City and 10 days later at his home track Wembley, he breaks the track record over 490m in 29.92.
1947 Captain W W Harrison is the latest breeder to give up his profession due to the ongoing issues with distemper. Based at Harrietsham in Kent, Harrision has lost 56 out of 70 puppies to the disease in the past 15 months alone. However, debate continues to rage among the veterinary profession about identifying and naming the specific disease with the word ‘distemper’ being generic for a wide variety of different ailments (the bubonic plague was once referred to as distemper). The Central Veterinary committee admits that there are a variety of names currently used to describe the disease with the symptoms of distemper. They include: ‘show fever’, ‘cat plague’, ‘influenenza’, and ‘kennel ill’ among many others.
1959 The versatile NGRC steward John Skeaping has written a book in the ‘Take Home’ series about greyhound racing which is sent to thousands of factories and offices. They are given away free by the employers and are hugely popular. One recent survey by Shell Petrochemical revealed that 94% of ‘Take Home’ books were read and enjoyed by grateful employees. While that may not seem so remarkable, Skeaping certainly is. In addition to being a well known TV personality on the programme Tell The truth, Skeaping is a Professor of Sculpture at the Royal College of Art.
2012 Planning permission is granted for a new track at Towcester Racecourse. GOBATA Chairman Martin White is hopeful that the new stadium could be racing by August. General manager Kevin Ackerman predicts that the project will cost around 18 weeks to complete at a cost of £1.25m.
1995 Northern owner Jim Morris decides to get out of the sport. He is to sell his 30 greyhounds including St Leger winner Airmount Flash and All England Cup winner Moral Director.
1983 A strike by Irish owners and breeders over new qualifying times is averted when Bord na gCon agree to postpone the implementation date. The Bord intend to reduce the 31.40 qualifying time to 31.20 at five of the major tracks.
1962 Palms Printer and Clonalvy Pride cannot be separated in the vote for 1961 Greyhound of the Year. Printer won the Derby and Scurry Gold Cup. Clonalvy Pride won the Laurels, St Leger and Olympic. Oaks winner Ballinasloe Blonde was certain to win the Best British Bred Bitch award, but also won the Best British Bred Greyhound award, which had always previously been presented to a male greyhound. The Dam of the Best British bred litter went to Day Break.
1937 The former Stan Biss trained pair Whipped J and Whipped Lass respectively land the 10,000 franc Prix de Feves and Prix de St Aubin at Paris’s Courbevoie stadium.
2010 The BGRB announce that the anticipated Fund income for the year will be down an estimated £1.5m to £8.5m The industry had already been bracing itself for reductions from the previous years of 2009-£10m, 2008-£12m.
1975 February 11 Mr Cyril Scotland’s Westpark Mustard (Newdown Heather-April Merry, Apr’71) is returning from illness having beaten Mick The Miller’s record of 19 wins in a row. Contesting a 600 metre open at Romford, she was beaten into third place by Millcock, who she had already beaten in her 20-in-a-row sequence.
1948 February 26 Liverpool’s first track to open, Breck Park, also becomes the first to close following a huge fire which destroyed the main grandstand. It is survived by three other tracks in the city, Seaforth, Stanley and White City. The site in Townsend Lane is waste land today behind the Breck Park Dockers Club.
1966 GRA extend their portfolio to 12 tracks with the purchase of the Clapton Stadium group (for £1,125,000) which includes Reading and a large shareholding in West Ham. The company now also own two sizeable training establishments with Northaw (150 acres) and Claverhambury (170 acres).
1994 Lord Kimball reveals the split of grants due to offered by the BGRF for the year. 41.4% is to go to ‘integrity’. This includes £294K towards pre-race chromatography and £180K to testing laboratories. The prize money grant for six months is £250K and is 29.8% of the yearly total. Track grants account for 17.8%, promotion 5.1% and 4.9% for welfare.
2004 Actor David Jason handed over a cheque for £250 to the local homefinders scheme after Yorkshire TV cameras shot scenes from an episode of ‘A Touch of Frost’ at the stadium. In the programme, the detective goes undercover as a tictac man.
