1976 Hit The Lid is sold for 380 guineas at Shelbourne sale. No, not that one! This son of Postal Vote died in obscurity.
1984 Top open race star Creamery Cross is in second place approaching the third bend in the heats of the Scurry Gold Cup when he inexplicably turns around and heads in the opposite direction.
2016 Swindon arrange and then cancel a special trial session with the aim of producing the 72 first round runners for the Produce Stakes. Having originally looked undersubscribed, a rush of late entries push the entries to 81. A combination of withdrawals and negotiations between racing office and trainers finally whittles the number back to 72.
1955 Criminality was afoot. At Leeds West Riding Assizes, Sydney Wainwright, a 69 year old electrical engineer, receives a 14 year sentence for forgery. Described by the judge as ‘an artist to his fingertips’, the convicted man had attempted to launder ‘remarkable’ banknotes at Leeds greyhound track but had struggled to distinguish between originals and forgeries among his winnings. Among the less heinous crimes, local man Ernest Armstrong is fined 10 shillings with £3.10s costs for damaging the hare at Mansfield track. Armstrong had been unable to get a bet on his dog and had kicked the hare to void a race.
2012 In an environmentally friendly spirit of re-cycling, the Racing Post inadvertently run the previous year’s Select Stakes competition.
1993 Canterbury introduce an automatic seven day ban for any trainers whose greyhounds improves by more than 50 spots. Within days, they lose the services of Tim Cronshaw and Barry McIntosh.
2015 Select hopeful Swift Hoffman produced a stunning sub track record trial for Nottingham’s 500m course. The Pat Rosney trained Scottish Derby winner was timed at 28.93. Sawpit Sensation’s track record is 29.16 (In 2019 Skywalker Logan reduced it to 29.05). A clearly stunned Rosney said: “I clock my own times and when I looked at the watch and it said, 28.91, I thought I had made a mistake. But I knew it would be something special because I clocked Eden The Kid to the third bend and he did 17.94. I had Hoffman down as 17.38. I really don’t know what to say, I still can’t believe the time.” Eden The Kid’s official time was 29.54. Hoffman is already the 480 metre record holder in 28.07.
1955 Two High Court judgements determine that where greyhounds are disqualified for fighting, their new owners are entitled to compensation under the 1893 Sales Of Goods Act.
2013 Coventry stage a ‘buckle’ between staying stars Lone Reggie (4-6) and Aayazabella (11-10) over the 672m course. It goes to the latter who prevails by three quarters of a length.
1973 Tony Nicholls, owner of Derby fourth Hymus Silver and future builder of Harlow, takes out his private trainer’s licence.
1955 UK owners are offered the chance to buy pups and saplings from the famous Champion Prince Kennels at Borrisoleigh. There would be issues remembering the telephone number: ‘Tel Borrisoleigh 8’.
2018 Gemma Davidson’s Crayford range is on lock down after a suspected case of canine haemorrhagic pneumonia.
2015 Trainers Ron Paterson, Glen Lynas, Seamus Gaughan, Simon Deakin, Joy Andrews, Micahel Barber, James Thompson, Jim Little and John Lambe are all fined for positive tests for 5-hydroxytryptohhan (5-HTP)
1955 Irish racing lost its first ever meeting due to industrial action (though it certainly wouldn’t be the last!). In a bizarre set of circumstances, over 2,000 bar staff are picketing pubs in the Dublin area over demands for an extra 25 shillings (£1.25) per week. One of the pubs is owned by the Shelbourne General Manager Paddy O’Donoghue. So the union change tactics and send pickets to Shelbourne. The track staff (who are part of the Seamen’s & Port Workers Union) decline to cross the picket, as does the hare driver (Electical Trades Union).
1973 The Forum Stakes at Hove is won by Mr Murasaki, owned by Chelsea manager Dave Sexton.
1991 Bolton regulars vote 160-16 against joining the NGRC permit scheme.
2015 Defending champion Pinpoint Maxi broke a leg for the second time in his career in the semi finals of the William Hill Classic. He is retired and goes to stud. Likely favourite Laughing Gravy is also injured in the semis and is withdrawn from the final. The Grand Prix is also affected Jaytee China coming off lame after qualifying for the final. (She never races again but becomes a successful mum throwing the likes of Bluetick George, Jaytee Wexford and Turnhouse Jet.) There is some consolation for trainer Paul Young who wins the Grand Prix with another of his qualifiers, Bubbly Gold. However his Classic finalist Bubbly Ninja is disqualified for fighting.
1958 The Greyhound Express’s Irish columnist explains how keen his countrymen were to follow the previous week’s English Derby Final which featured five Irish bred dogs. He wrote: “Although Eire is now one of the few European countries without official television, large numbers flocked to the southern seaside resorts and got a wonderfully clear view of the sport’s brightest and best showpiece – highlighted by an entirely satisfactory result for the Irish.”
