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Springbok (greyhounds)
The Springbok is a greyhound racing competition held annually at Central Park Stadium. It was inaugurated in 1937 at the White City Stadium in London and was held there until its closure in 1985 when it switched to Wimbledon Stadium. The event is the leading competition for novice hurdlers. In 2017 the race switched to Central Park Stadium in Sittingbourne following the closure of Wimbledon Stadium. The relocation of the competition to Central Park continued a family legacy for the Cearns family who had been connected with the race when it was first held in 1937. In 2023, the race was held at Brighton & Hove Greyhound Stadium while track renovation was taking place at Central Park. Venues & Distances *1937–1985 (White City (London), 550y hurdles) *1986–2010 (Wimbledon, 460m hurdles) *2011–2016 (Wimbledon, 480m hurdles) *2017–2022 (Central Park, 480m hurdles) *2023–2023 (Hove, 500m hurdles) Sponsors *1994–1995 (John Henwood) *2000–2006 ( William Hill) *20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Park Stadium
Central Park Stadium formerly Sittingbourne Stadium is a greyhound racing track, and speedway track and former football stadium located in Murston, Sittingbourne, Kent, England. Greyhound racing takes place every Friday evening in addition to their four SIS morning meetings. Facilities The stadium was built to a capacity of approximately 6000, with 2000 seats available in the Main Stand, two end terraces and a large covered terrace opposite the Main Stand. There are also four private suites, a trackside restaurant, three bars and a fast food cafeteria. History Sittingbourne FC played at the Bull Ground in the town centre until 1990 when they sold the site for £4.5 million and built a new state of the art stadium on the outskirts of the town named Central Park Stadium. However, overspending on the new ground caused the club financial difficulties and they were forced to sell the ground to the local council and lease it back. The ground was eventually leased to a company tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1946 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
The 1946 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 21st year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Roll of honour Summary The greyhound racing industry experienced an extraordinary year in 1946, with all previous records in terms of attendances and totalisator turnover being broken. The year would be the pinnacle in the history of the sport and would never be matched again. Attendances were estimated to be around 75 million based on an annual totalisator turnover of £196,431,430. The figure equates to £8 billion today (2018), using a historic inflation calculator, which indicates the significance of the industry at the time. Trading on greyhound racing shares at the stock exchange were centre stage business. The leading greyhound company, the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) recorded record attendances and profits at all of their tracks. The largest tote turnover was at White City and reached £17,576,190. Competitions Mondays News won the 1946 English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium
Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium was a greyhound racing and motorcycle speedway stadium in the London Borough of Bexley. Origins and Opening In 1930 the Bexleyheath and District Motorcycle Club started making plans for a grass speedway track on land known as the Crayford Fairfield that had hosted travelling fairs for a reported 500 years. The first speedway meeting was held in the spring of 1930 but the following season (1931) it was decided to postpone any further speedway meetings due to the work involved in organising them. A company called Wilson Greyhound Racing Track Ltd stepped in and built a 450-yard circuit around the grass track and racing duly opened on Easter Monday 1932. Speedway returned in 1932 with a new cinder track inside the dog track and it was known as the Crayford Speedway Stadium until 1937. Renovation In 1937 builders W & C French undertook a huge rebuilding project for the Crayford & Bexleyheath Greyhound Stadium Ltd company costing £50,000. The pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1954 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
The 1954 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 29th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Roll of honour Summary Spanish Battleship secured a second consecutive Irish Greyhound Derby title becoming the first greyhound in history to do so. In addition to the Derby win, during the year he won the Tostal Cup at Harold's Cross Stadium and Easter Cup at Shelbourne Park before an injury curtailed his efforts in the Callanan Cup final. After his historic Derby win he would win the Tipperary Cup with two track record runs and a victory in the McCalmont Cup but would be a shock loser in the final of the McAlinden Cup for the second year running. Pauls Fun won the English Greyhound Derby for Leslie Reynolds securing a record fifth title for the trainer. The annual totalisator was £56,139,001. Competitions Prince Lawrence and Ardskeagh Ville claimed the pre-derby classics, the Grand National and Gold Collar respectively. Jack Harvey went on a significant thre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Ham Stadium
West Ham Stadium was a stadium that existed between 1928 and 1972 in Custom House, in East London (it was in the County Borough of West Ham, in the county of Essex, at the time of the stadium's construction). The stadium was built in 1928 on Prince Regent Lane, near the site of the present-day Prince Regent DLR station. The venue was used for greyhound racing and speedway on weekdays and had no connection with West Ham United football club, who played at the nearby Boleyn Ground, Upton Park from 1904 until 2016. Greyhound racing Origins Plans for a very large stadium in a rural area near Plaistow Marsh, east of Canning Town were unveiled in the late 1920s and work began on the structure where an old sports ground (built in 1855) was situated that had belonged to the workers of the custom house of Royal Victoria Dock. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch, responsible for most of the major football stadia at the time including Anfield and Highbury. There was a large t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1953 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
The 1953 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 28th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Roll of honour Summary The annual totalisator was £61,522,849 which constituted a solid year. The main stars of the year were Spanish Battleship, in Ireland and Magourna Reject, in the United Kingdom. Competitions There was a surprise in store during the first major event of the year when 1951 Scurry Gold Cup runner up Mushera Silver won the Gold Collar, at 13-2 beating Monachdy Girlie by two lengths. The Scottish Greyhound Derby was cancelled for the second successive year due to insufficient entries but the Welsh Greyhound Derby received a high standard of entry. Glittering Look made amends for his unlucky Derby performance beating fellow Derby finalists Small Town, Galtee Cleo in addition to Endless Gossip and Ollys Pal. A competition called the London Tracks Coursing Cup (confined to London track greyhounds) was held near Cambridge and was won by Must Ventu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1952 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
The 1952 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 27th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Roll of honour Summary The annual totalisator was £64,263,725, which indicated that the industry had stabilised following a few turbulent years. The year focused on the performances of two greyhounds, Endless Gossip and Magourna Reject. Despite the fact that Magourna Reject had failed to land a classic competition during the year, he drew the crowds everywhere he went and Endless Gossip was denied the chance to win the Triple Crown because the Scottish Greyhound Derby had been cancelled. Competitions Match racing was still popular even twenty years after the Mick the Miller era. One such match was between XPDNC (the Grand National champion against this year's favourite Lambourn Blackflash. Lambourn Blackflash won by five lengths and both competed in the Grand National at White City during May. The two rivals qualified for the final, but it was a 20-1 shot (Whis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1951 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
The 1951 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 26th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Roll of honour Summary The annual totalisator was £65,548,855, a fifth consecutive drop since 1946 but considerably more stable than the significant decreases experienced during 1950. Once again the blame was directed towards the government and their tax policies of 10% tote tax and an additional 45% entertainment tax. Two tracks closed claiming that they could not continue to trade under the current taxation. In January Tamworth Greyhound Stadium and in May White City Stadium (Newcastle), the latter closed after the Managing Director Mr Whatley reported unmanageable figures. The tote receipts were £75,000 of which £47,000 was taken out by taxation. Restrictions on gambling were very much still considered by the government to be in the interests of the general public. A record 140 entries were received at the initial stage of the 1951 English Greyhound Derby, B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1950 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
The 1950 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 25th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Roll of honour Summary The annual totalisator was £70,408,231, a fourth consecutive drop since 1946. Seventy-one of the tracks were affiliated to the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) which accounted for £61,068,000 of the total. The drop at the 71 tracks constituted 18% and paid attendances were 21,549,000, a drop of 10%. The returns further increased the friction between the industry and the government, with the former blaming the tote tax cost of £9,182,000 in addition to normal income tax on other areas of the business. Ballymac Ball continued his exceptional form from 1949 by winning the English Greyhound Derby. Tracks The Boyne Valley Greyhound Stadium in Navan and Spennymoor Greyhound Stadium both open. Competitions The News of the World in association with the National Greyhound Racing Club announced plans to sponsor a national intertrack competit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1949 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
The 1949 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 24th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Roll of honour Summary The annual totalisator turnover was a healthy £85,643,207, which although the fifth highest ever recorded was also the third consecutive drop since 1946. Another concern was the fact that there were 207 tracks operating which was 63 less than during 1934. The industry put the blame squarely on government legislation that continued to squeeze operating profits. The government however were under pressure from organisations such as the Committee of Churches and ordered a public session. They presented evidence to the Royal Commission of Betting Lotteries and Gaming attacking all forms of betting with greyhound racing being singled out in particular, with mention of all under 18s being banned from tracks and the deduction from the totalisator to be brought down from its current percentage with no gain for promoters through the operations of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walthamstow Stadium
Walthamstow Stadium was a greyhound racing track in the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London.BBC News - Walthamstow race track to close' It was regarded as the leading greyhound racing stadium in Britain following the closure of White City in 1984. The stadium closed on 16 August 2008. Greyhound racing Crooked Billet In the early part of the 20th century the Myrtle Grove sports ground was built and used by the Walthamstow Grange Football Club from 1908. By 1929 the ground hosted greyhound racing for the first time and was known as the Crooked Billet Greyhound and whippet track (named after the nearby Crooked Billet public house). The track was an independent track, unaffiliated to a governing body. In 1931, William Chandler, a bookmaker by trade, decided to build on the existing independent track. Chandler also had shares in the Hackney Wick Stadium. Opening It cost Chandler £24,000 to buy the site and the Art Deco parapet entrance was built in 1932 with the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1948 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
The 1948 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 23rd year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Roll of honour Summary The annual totalisator turnover was £99,449,342, which although the fourth highest ever recorded was also the second consecutive drop since 1946. The minimum betting stake on the track totalisator was increased from two to four shillings but quickly changed back following a widespread slump. The government ban on mid-week racing continued. Western Post and Priceless Border claimed the big Derby races but Local Interprize was the star of the year, after he claimed four classic competitions. They were the Gold Collar, Scurry Gold Cup, Welsh Greyhound Derby and the Cesarewitch. Competitions A greyhound called Narrogar Ann from a litter of six, out of the bitch Winnie of Berrow (winner of the 1944 Eclipse) came to prominence when successful in the Western Two year Old Produce Stakes. Narrogar Ann trained by Joe Farrand at Oxford Stadium beat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
