1961 June 18 The owner of English Derby semi-finalist Winter Bell (Champion Prince-Spanish Gardenia, Nov 58). 58 year old J L Winter, is taken ill at work and dies later. He does not see his dog qualify for the final. Not having won a round . Bell is rank outsider at 50-1 in the final a week later, but runs the race of his life. Last early on, he puts in a storming run to finish third, beaten only 1 1/4 and 1 1/4 lengths by Palms Printer 2-1 and the 6-4 favourite Oregon Prince.
1980 Ladbrokes are keen to announce a £300,000 improvement plan for Brough Park. It will include the purchase of a new computer tote system, a new sand racing circuit, new lighting, a new sprinkler system and improvements to the grandstand. When it comes to plans for sister track Gosforth, reputedly set for closure, there is no news. . .
1957 Street trader Royston Rayner is fined £20 with 10 guineas costs (equivalent to around £550) for throwing a dummy lure onto the track at Walthamstow as he successfully voided a marathon open race. The story takes a more sinister twist when newspaper Greyhound Express claims that five heavy gamblers have formed a syndicate to pay stooges to target races where major coups are in danger of failing.
1966 An article in Greyhound Owner reminds readers how much a successful brood can mean to a small Irish farmer. It notes the tale of the O’Neill family from Knocklong. Their brood Ballinsacorney, who is a litter sister to Derby winner Duleek Dandy, has produced six litters including Flash Blakeney (sold for £900 to the USA), Blakeneys Tonic (£700), Sly Blakeney (£500), and Lord Blakeney (£400). First there was a new car, then a new tractor, then a house extension and more recently a motorised byre. (Total value of the four dogs alone, index linked, is around £58,000).
1965 Booked Out and Cranog Bet are 8-1 joint favourites for the English Derby. Neither will make the final. Eventual winner Chittering Clapton is available at 66-1. He will be followed home in the final by Sunbow (66), Shy Prairie (33), Creggan Bush (16), Flash Solar (100) and Greenane Flame (66)
1965 The great Cranog Bet is retired from racing after finishing lame with a shoulder injury in the heats of the Derby. During an incredible career the Phil Rees trained bitch won 39 of her 61 races and almost £8,000 in prize money. Her victories included two English Oaks and the Guinness 600. She broke track records at Clapton (400), Brough Park (525), Harringay (525) and Shelbourne Park (600).
1972 White City announce a major clampdown on security following the theft of Mister Rhythm from the racing paddock. The Freddie Warrell owned dog had just been eliminated from the Derby. Two men and a greyhound were later seen nearby getting into a taxi which took them to Waterloo Station.
1950 On the day that the three Davis brothers Frank, Aaron Henry and Sidney, receive notification of their trial date for alleged substituting Derby favourite Red Wind with Irish open racer Waggles, four Irishmen appear in front of the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, charged with running in a ringer in a horserace at Haydock Park.
1979 Bletchley promoter Bob Beckett was not best pleased when he had to withdraw two runners from a British bred puppy open. It transpired the two runners, Townview Luque and Merlins Monty, were neither British bred, nor puppies.
2004 The BGRB agrees to give 100 per cent funding for all trainers for fitting air management systems to their vehicles or 50% towards the cost of air conditioning.
1958 The Greyhound Express produce an interesting chart comparing track records at various tracks in Britain and Ireland. The Derby trip, White City’s 525 yards, is also the quickest of any track thanks to Pigalle Wonder’s 28.44. Shelbourne’s clock is 28.98 though the slowest 525 is Dundalk’s 30.15. The London venue also has the fastest 550 (30.16) which is more than two and a half seconds quicker than Romford’s equivalent.
1980 Slough becomes the first track to have 10 winning favourites on the same card. The law only changed two months earlier following the restriction on eight-race cards. Racing manager John Collins noted that in his 31 years as a racing manager, the most winning favourites that he ever graded was seven. “The bookmakers have clubbed around and brought a shotgun” he added.
2010 Yarmouth undergo a major project on their racing circuit which will involve fitting new drains, recambering the track, raising the hare rail and laying 300 tons of shingle and 800 tons of new sand. The total cost of the project is £190,000 plus VAT (£365K today).
1949 Saft Alex is the Derby ante post favourite at 7-1. He will reach the final but finish last behind Narrogar Ann, currently available at 20s. Between them will finish Dangerous Prince (20-1), Sailing At Dawn (33-1), Local Interprize (8-1) and Glencoy Regent (16-1).
1986 Hackney assistant racing manager John Grimsey was warned off following an investigation which showed that an identity book of a local grader Run And Stun had been altered. Despite rumours that Derby runner Quality Prince had raced in place of the grader and that Run And Stun’s identity book had been altered to show the markings of Quality Prince, the stewards could produce no evidence to show that the wrong dog had raced.
2004 Two of Ernie Gaskin’s leading open racers are retired within 15 minutes of each other having both won their last races. The highlight of Hopeful Moment’s race career was a win in the Arc. Soviet Gypsy landed the Regency.
2011 For the first time, greyhound trainers can now officially administer a carefully controlled group of medicaments within seven days of a trial or race. The list of products prescribed in the IADMC review include Dettol, ferric chloride, hibbitane, potassium permangonate, Savlon, Sudocrem, petroleum jelly and wound powders (not containing insecticide or antibiotic).
1972 Major Percy Brown, White City’s racing manager, retires. His position is taken by Arthur Aldridge. The charismatic Brown has been with GRA for over 40 years having started as a racing office clerk in 1930 and been appointed Belle Vue racing manager within a year. He was appointed White City RM in 1965 but had been organising the Derby since 1935. In 1938 he was famously presented with a gold cigarette case for having graded 2,000 consecutive races without an odds-on winner.
1991 Springwood Mickey attracts a record crowd to Wishaw as he wins the Pitmans Derby. The son of Aragon Mill and Fontaine gets home with three lengths to spare in 27.83 for the 500 yards.
1932 June 25 Stenhouse track in Edinburgh opens with an afternoon crowd of about 10,000. In the evening they hold another meeting where again the crowd is 10,000.
1993 The Californian based Greyhound Protection League produce arguably the most graphic anti-greyhound racing literature ever produced. Two photos showing piles of dead bodies (they are piled into dustbins in one photo) are still being used by welfare groups 17 years later.
2006 Peter Laurie is unveiled as the BGRB’s new welfare officer. The 25 year old Oxford graduate spent time as a William Hill cashier and held a trainers licence for a short time.
1962 The National Sporting League advise members to withhold payment, subject to further enquiries, after Friendly Lass landed an off-course gamble running into several thousands of pounds. The bitch had won an open at Romford in a near record time. She had been returned at 10-1 but most bookies had failed to spot their liability since she was coupled up in doubles with Mines A Mink. When the latter was withdrawn from a Slough open, all stakes went onto Friendly Lass. Both Friendly Lass and Mines A Mink are handled by private trainer Tony Dennis. No evidence is found of wrong-doing and all bets are paid out.
1991 Hove lose a court battle with Alliance an Leicester Building Society which will allow the latter to reclaim land on which the Orchard Road Stand is located. Meanwhile Hove’s parent company Coral is put on the market by its owners, Bass.
2008 Henlow trainer Michael Harrington dies of a suspected heart attack after four dogs he was walking were set on by a pack of pit bull terriers. Two of the greyhound escape, one is seriously injured and another had to be put out of its misery.
1981 The independent ranks are due to be expanded with the introduction of racing at Skegness and Chasewater. ‘Skegg’ closes within six months due to a lack of runners.
1966 30 year old private trainer John Coleman sends out his first open winner when Fallen Rock wins at Clapton.
2011 Romford trainer Peter Payne relinquishes his licence due to ill health. His kennel stars during that period include Demesne Bear (Scurry/Laurels), Brownies Outlook (Romford Puppy Cup), and Sullane Princess (Oaks).
1946 Greyhound racing is abolished in South Africa. Andrew Smith, chairman of the Dunswart Stadium, near Beroni, announces that 11,000 greyhounds owned by the stadium, or private trainers throughout the country will need to be disposed of. A couple of the better dogs have been shipped to Britain and will undergo quarantine before, hopefully, beginning their English racing careers.
1988 June 30 Fred Underhill retires as secretary of NGRC/BGRB. He had joined the NGRC in 1958 after working in local Government in Dudley, West Midlands. He took over the senior NGRC post in 1962.
1950 Brighton’s 525 yard track record is broken by Breathless Wonder, a locally bred pup who was bought for 13gns. No one was more surprised than trainer Harry Manser who had doubted that the British bred youngster would ever chase. Wonder had been reared by his owner and slept on his bed, and to Manser’s bewilderment, would regularly carry eggs, or even unharmed live hens, into his master’s house “in the manner of a retriever”.
