RETURN OF THE ROMFORD ROAR/SUPPORTING CARD

“I had never experienced more than about 400 people at the track but had been told about ‘the Romford roar’ As soon as Seamus’ dog came out out of the traps in front, I realised what I had missed. It was incredible, and a moment I won’t forget in a very long time.”

By any measure, the return of Romford to a fully functioning greyhound track was an incredible success. More than 1,700 souls piled into the Essex venue on Friday night for an evening of top class racing.

No one was more thrilled or relieved than the man who has overseen the re-birth of the track following the huge redevelopment than Head of Stadia Ian Smyth who clocked up 24,500 steps on his podometer during the course of the day.

He said: “The atmosphere was just incredible. We passed 1,700 through the gate and asked staff to alert me, for every five more arrivals. We were right on the point where it could have become too uncomfortable and didn’t want to turn anyone away, but it worked out just right.

“There was such a buzz. We have staff who have been at the track for 30 or 40 years and I kept hearing ‘it’s just like the old days’. There were a couple of minor hiccups, but no real issues and the evening could not have gone any better. It was interesting that a number of racegoers chose to use the marquee, which was good news because it gave them a bit more room, and justified it being there.

“The raffle raised a great deal of money for the local homefinders and we will do it again on Boxing Day.”

The only downside on the night, was the behaviour of a anti-racing supporters who stood outside the stadium during the early part of the evening.

Smyth said: “There were about a dozen altogether and the behaviour of some of them was a disgrace. They were shouting foul abuse at racegoers. There was even one guy who sat on the bonnet of the car of one of our disabled customers.

“When the driver explained that he couldn’t walk, the thug on the car told him that he deserved to be disabled because he supported dog racing. How can you reason with people like that? In the end we had to call in the Police to deal with him.

“But the antis weren’t able to ruin a great night. I was approached by so many people during the evening who were so incredibly kind and complimentary about the stadium. We all finished the night tired but on a high.”

In addition to the main event, the night also featured three heats of the Coral TV Trophy where Graham Holland’s Riverside Honey set a new 925 metre track record.

The Irish entry was five spots inside Aero Rebel’s previous best set in December 2012. Defending champion Savana Winner made it through to a second decider behind the veteran Aayamza Breeze. Of the big fancies, only 2018 runner-up Goldies Hotspur failed to reach next week’s decider.