"Racing has been illegal in South Africa for over 50 years after being banned in 1946. Greyhound racing is a popular industry in Great Britain with attendances at around 3.2 million at over 5,750 meetings in 2007. There are currently 21 registered stadiums in Britain, and a parimutuel betting tote system with on-course and off-course betting available. On 24 July 1926, in front of 1,700 spectators, the first greyhound race took place at Belle Vue Stadium where seven greyhounds raced around an oval circuit to catch an electric artificial hare. This marked the first modern greyhound race in Great Britain."
"Gentle. Between them they raised £22,000 and like the American 'International Greyhound Racing Association' (or the I.G.R.A.), they launched the Greyhound Racing Association holding the first British meeting at Manchester's Belle Vue Stadium. The industry was successful in cities and towns throughout the UK – by the end of 1927, there were forty tracks operating. The industry of greyhound racing was particularly attractive to predominantly male working-class audiences, for whom the urban locations of the tracks and the evening times of the meetings were accessible, and to patrons and owners from various social backgrounds. Betting has always been a key"
"place at Belle Vue Stadium where seven greyhounds raced round an oval circuit to catch an electric artificial hare. This marked the first ever modern greyhound race in Great Britain. They then hurried to open tracks in London at the White City Stadium and Harringay Stadium. The first three years of racing produced an Economic boom with attendance figures of - 1927 (5.5 million people), 1928 (13.7 million) and 1929 (16 million). The industry of greyhound racing in Great Britain currently falls under two sectors: that registered by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), and a sector known as"
"of the stadium came from the nearby Belle Vue Zoological Gardens that had been built in 1836 and the land on which the stadium was to stand had been an area of farmland known as Higher Catsknowl and Lower Catsknowl. The very first race around an oval track in Britain was held on 24 July 1926. More than 1,700 people were attracted to the meeting where they watched a greyhound called Mistley win over 440 yards (402 m). Six races with seven dogs in each race were held in the first meeting. Fifty years later a stand was named after"
"Grand National win by the Gemma Davidson trained Plane Daddy continued Crayford’s success with hurdle racing and Lorraine Sams introduced a greyhound to the industry in 2006 called Spiridon Louis. The black and white dog would become the 2007 Greyhound of the year after winning the St Leger, TV Trophy and Regency. Crayford Stadium Crayford Stadium is a greyhound track located in the London Borough of Bexley in England. The stadium, which has featured races since 1986, has private suites, a restaurant and a number of bars. An evening meeting takes place every Tuesday, a matinée race meeting takes place"
"at White City Stadium, Walthamstow Stadium, Wimbledon Stadium, Wembley Greyhounds at Wembley Stadium, Harringay Stadium, West Ham Stadium, Powderhall Stadium and Cardiff Arms Park and Newcastle in October 2018. Greyhound racing as a whole in the UK peaked in 1946 but has been in decline since the opening of betting shops in 1961 and despite a mini boom in the late 1980s there are only 21 licensed tracks left in Britain. In the United States, greyhound racing is governed by state law. Industry attempts at self-regulation have been criticized by humane organizations. There are strict industry imposed enforcement system, in"
"as the world's largest dog show, with 22,973 dogs being exhibited that year. The NEC was the venue for the famous Iron Maiden live album, Maiden England Driving for 11- to 16-year-olds with Young Driver happens regularly at weekends in the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre (NEC) car parks. In May 2013, The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) announced it would be hosting a series of corporate Christmas parties for the first time. The parties run from 8 to 21 December 2013. It was also the venue for Great Britain's Davis Cup match against Holland in 2007. The Resorts World Arena (previously"
"in off-course betting establishments. There is a great need for this legislation. Greyhound racing is the second most supported spectator sport in Britain. As census figures show, more than 5 million people support the sport by going along to tracks every week. They attend 83 tracks, 48 of which are independent and 35 of which are registered with the National Greyhound Racing Club. The membership of that club and of the independents now amounts to more than 15,000 greyhound owners. More than 20,000 greyhounds are registered and in training. At least 10,000 race meetings are held every year, accommodating over"
"popular dog in the United Kingdom in 2007 with 11,422 registrations in a single year. Labrador Retrievers were the most popular with 45,079 registrations in that year. Their popularity is on the rise in America; in 1998 they were the 56th most popular breed but in both 2007 and 2008 they were the 25th most popular. They ranked higher in some individual US cities in the 2008 statistics, being eighth in both Nashville and Minneapolis-St.Paul, seventh in Boston, Atlanta and Washington D.C., and sixth in both New York City and San Francisco. The breed's popularity has continued to grow, ranking"
"Thirteen thousand people attended the first night and witnessed Marjorie Graves, MP for South Hackney officially open the track. The capacity of the track was put between 30,000-50,000 and a totalisator had been installed for the first night. A greyhound called Bullseye became the first ever winner at the track. Although the meeting was advertised as the first official meeting there had been a dress rehearsal two days previous on Wednesday 6 April which attracted 12,000 people. The company responsible for the project was Hackney Wick Stadium Ltd headed by Managing Director Arthur Gilbert and Racing Manager Fred Whitehead with"
"and success of greyhound racing at the Bellevue race track in Manchester and recognised the sport as a good business proposition. The opening meeting was in 1927 and 50,000 people attended to watch the first race won by a greyhound named Spin. The dog racing provided the stadium with its main source of regular income, especially in the early days, and continued to attract crowds of several thousand up until the early 1960s. In 1929 Elvin decided he wanted to operate a speedway team from the stadium. With the help of speedway promoter Johnnie Hoskins, he constructed a speedway track"
"it is the largest annual event held at the venue, with an estimated 160,000 human visitors in 2008. The winner of the title of """"Best In Show"""" receives a replica of the solid silver Keddall Memorial Trophy and a surprisingly small cash prize of £100. The largest and most prestigious dog show in America is the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, was established in 1877 and is held annually at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The 2008 show had a total entry of 2,627 dogs making the event the second largest continuously held sporting event in America. The"
"end of the meeting there were 6,000 present with another 3,000 attending the evening meeting held from 8.00pm until 9.30pm. Speedway made its debut on 6 October 1928 and one year later the Southampton Greyhound Racing Company was bought out by the Hampshire Greyhound Racing Syndicate led by one of the existing directors and the local businessman and fishmonger Charlie Knott senior. The company was soon renamed Southampton Sports Stadium Ltd. A greyhound called Buckna Boy represented Southampton in the 1929 and 1930 English Greyhound Derby and was one of the leading contenders for the 1929 running. The fawn dog"
"of the list overnight. This greatly increases the price of puppies bred from this dog or at the dog's kennel of origin. In the United Kingdom, the international championship show Crufts was first held in 1891. Since its centenary year in 1991, the show has officially been recognised as the world's largest and most prestigious dog show by the Guinness Book of Records, with a total of 22,991 dogs being exhibited that year. 22,964 dogs were exhibited in 2008, 27 short of the previous record. Crufts is held over 4 days at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham and"
"The closure of the stadium was sealed when GRA's parent company Wembley plc was broken apart and GRA were subject to a takeover by Risk Capital Partners with development partner Galliard Homes in 2005 for £52.4m. Plans for 150 houses and 75 flats were mooted but the council publicly stated they were in favour of keeping the site for leisure use. The racing continued for seven years until the GRA closed the stadium with the last greyhound meeting was held on 29 December 2012 in front of a capacity crowd with the last winner being Moorstown Mystiq trained by Richard"
"floor matted with a special fibrous substance. The kennels consisted of six ranges totalling over 200 kennels within the two acres of the stadium grounds. The first meeting took place on 4 August 1928. The stadium management brought in a race called the Cesarewitch which gained classic status; the race started over the distance of 600 yards but become a competition for marathon greyhounds. Early successful trainers were Ken Appleton and Stanley Biss, both of whom had owned greyhounds on Wembley's opening night and subsequently taken out trainers licences at Wimbledon Stadium before joining West Ham. Biss trained a famous"
"Greyhound Racing Association The Greyhound Racing Association (GRA, now GRA Acquisition) is a UK-based private company founded in 1925 and involved in the management of sports venues, notably greyhound racing stadia (despite its name, it is not involved in the administration of greyhound racing - that is the responsibility of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain). The company now trades as GRA Acquisition following the sale of the GRA by parent company Wembley plc in 2005. As of October 2018, the GRA Acquisition operates two leased stadia; the Belle Vue Stadium in Manchester, and the Perry Barr Stadium in Birmingham."
"Wimbledon Stadium Wimbledon Stadium, also known as Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, was a greyhound racing track located in Wimbledon in southwest London, England. It also hosted stock car and other small circuit motor racing events and until 2005 hosted motorcycle speedway. The stadium hosted the English Greyhound Derby every year between 1985 and 2016. The stadium closed in March 2017 with owners Galliard Homes Limited set to build more than 600 flats on the site; there will also be an 11,000 seater football stadium built on the site which will be the new home of AFC Wimbledon, with capacity to increase"
"prestige. In 2017 the race switched from Wimbledon and the GRA to Towcester and the prize money increased to £20,000 to the winner, bringing the race back to its former glory but the prize money dropped again after the closure of Towcester. The Puppy Derby The Puppy Derby is a greyhound competition held at Henlow Stadium. The event was held at Wimbledon Stadium from 1929-2016, until the closure of the stadium in 2017 when it switched to Towcester Greyhound Stadium. The event was only held at Towcester for one year because the track closed and the event was switched to"
"Firstly, Belle Vue defeated the Coventry Bees in a replay of the League Cup before losing to the Cradley Heath Heathens in the final league match ever raced at Hyde Road. The greyhound track at Belle Vue Stadium (Kirkmanshulme Lane) was the first to open in Britain when, on 24 July 1927, some 1,700 enthusiasts witnessed a dog called Mistley win the very first race. A grass-track meeting took place here on 5 May 1928, with Syd Jackson emerging as the winner. The dirt track was stated to be similar in size and shape to Wimbledon and Harringay, with the"
"pony. The UK's indigenous dog breeds include Bulldog, Jack Russell Terrier, Golden Retriever, Yorkshire Terrier, Airedale Terrier, Beagle, Border Collie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, English Cocker Spaniel, Scottish Terrier, Welsh Corgi, Bullmastiff, Greyhound, English Springer Spaniel and Old English Sheepdog. The Kennel Club, with its headquarters in London, is the oldest kennel club in the world, and acts as a lobby group on issues involving dogs in the UK. Its main objectives are to promote the general improvement of dogs and responsible dog ownership. Held since 1891, Crufts is an annual dog show in the UK. The event takes place over"
"The company constructed the first custom-built greyhound stadium near the city centre and called it Belle Vue Stadium, where the very first race around an oval track in Britain was held on 24 July 1926 at 7.30pm. With over one million people unemployed and the first general strike in history taking place and troops had been deployed to trouble spots throughout Britain. Greyhound racing offered an affordable day out, away from all of the issues and as a result greyhound racing underwent remarkable growth over the next decade. Only 1,700 people attended the first meeting at Belle Vue and they"
"Horse racing in Great Britain Horse racing is the second largest spectator sport in Great Britain, and one of the longest established, with a history dating back many centuries. It generates over £3.7 billion for the British economy, and the major horse racing events such as Royal Ascot and Cheltenham Festival are important dates in the British and international sporting and society calendar. The sport has taken place in the country since Roman times and many of the sport's traditions and rules originated there. The Jockey Club, established in 1750, codified the Rules of Racing and one of its members,"
"was seconded by the Scottish SPCA. Following the programme, the RSPCA ended its sponsorship of the annual Crufts dog show, and the BBC declined to broadcast the event. The King Charles Spaniel is less popular than the Cavalier in both the UK and the US. In 2010, the Cavalier was the 23rd most popular breed, according to registration figures collected by the American Kennel Club, while the English Toy Spaniel was the 126th. In the UK, according to the Kennel Club, the Cavalier is the most popular breed in the Toy Group, with 8,154 puppies registered in 2010, compared to"
"professional female models, all nude, rode on bikes around the stadium. Banger racing at the stadium was featured in the ITV police series ""The Sweeney"". The story was entitled ""Contact Breaker"". In 2007 the stadium was purchased by development company Galliard Homes Limited when the Greyhound Racing Association was put up for sale (along with all of its assets) by parent company Wembley PLC. Following this, the local professional football team AFC Wimbledon expressed interest in building their new football stadium on the site of the greyhound track in collaboration with Galliard Homes. A joint planning application made by Galliard"
"are 22 registered and five independent stadiums. There are 21 active Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) registered stadiums in the UK: 20 are in England and one is in Scotland. There are no tracks in Wales and Northern Irish tracks do not come under the control of the GBGB. There are also five active independent stadiums: There are many types of competitions in Britain, with prize money reaching £15,737,122. Greyhound Derby This race must have minimum prize money of £50,000. The competition has six-rounds and attracts around 180 entries each year. There are two derbys in Britain; Scottish Greyhound"
"recorded at 3,792,738 from 5247 meetings. Track tote remained at 17.5% and government tote tax at 4%. Northern Sports invested a £1½ million into Oxford Stadium, they had recently profited from a similar venture at sister track Ramsgate. Oxford's investment included a state of the art 250 seated, two tiered restaurant and a leisure centre. Oxford then brought in two of the leading kennels in the country at the time. Geoff De Mulder returned to the track and Gary Baggs arrived from new sister track Ramsgate. Baggs based at Rosewood kennels was trialling greyhounds ready for Oxford when he received"
"in the UK, Crufts, with seven best-in-show wins since the prize was first awarded in 1928. This was mostly due to the success of dog breeder H.S. Lloyd's Ware Kennel, dogs of which won best-in-show on six occasions between 1930–1950. They are the second most popular dog breed in the UK according to statistics released by the KC with 22,211 registrations in 2009, beaten only by the Labrador Retriever with 40,943. In third place was the English Springer Spaniel with 12,700. The English Cocker's popularity has increased steadily since 1999 in the United States when they were ranked 76th in"
"in the United States. A month after those achievements, Little Madam repeated his victories. The Pembroke Welsh Corgi club was formed in 1937, and the first show was held at Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge's Giralda Farms in New Jersey. Following the Second World War, there were imports from the United Kingdom, including Rozavel Uncle Sam which dominated the show circuit for Corgis. In 1949, he became the first Pembroke winner of Best in Show at an open conformation show in the United States. By 1998, the Pembroke Welsh Corgi had become the 37th most popular breed of dog in the United"
"Swindon Stadium Swindon Stadium, also known as the Abbey Greyhound Stadium, is a Greyhound Board of Great Britain regulated greyhound racing track and speedway track located in Blunsdon, Swindon, England. The stadium is home to the Swindon Robins, who compete in the Elite League. Racing takes place every Saturday evening, in addition to their three ARC fixtures. The greyhound track, with a circumference of 463 metres, is one of the largest in the United Kingdom; the speedway track has a circumference of 363 metres. The stadium opened to the public on 23 July 1949 when it hosted the Swindon Robins"
"dominated the race from the very start. 6–4 favourite Loyal Honcho improved as the race progressed, but just missed out on the ultimate prize by half a length. It was the second time that a Seamus Graham trained runner had finished second in as many years. 2007 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year 2007 English Greyhound Derby The 2007 Blue Square Greyhound Derby took place during June & July with the final being held on 7 July 2007 at Wimbledon Stadium. The winner Westmead Lord received £100,000. At Wimbledon (over 480 metres): ½, neck, 1, short head, 1¾ (lengths)<br> The"
"The pups under nine months were reared under the supervision of William Skerratt on farms in and around Blythe Bridge near Stoke-on-Trent before graduating to Northaw. Wembley Greyhounds opened on the 10 December and although the venue will forever be known for football, the irony is that it was greyhound racing that had kept the stadium afloat in its early days. The stadium on the verge of bankruptcy and closure was bought by Arthur Elvin who brought in greyhound racing which saved the stadium from being demolished. Elvin had secured Wembley Stadium by putting a 10% deposit down for a"
"Club Groups are: Hound, Working, Terrier, Gundog, Pastoral, Utility and Toy. As of 2011, the Kennel Club recognised 210 breeds of dog. This was increased to 211 breeds with the addition of the Turkish Kangal dog in 2013. The Kennel Club licenses dog shows throughout the UK but the only dog show actually run by the KC is the Crufts conformation show. The show has been held since 1928 and attracts competitors from all over the world. Crufts is held every March at the NEC, Birmingham. The Kennel Club also holds the dog event Discover Dogs in London every November,"