1943 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year

1943 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
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The 1943 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 18th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland. ^[1]

Roll of honour

Major Winners
Award	Name of Winner
1943 English Greyhound Derby	Suspended
1943 Irish Greyhound Derby [2] [3]	Famous Knight
1943 Scottish Greyhound Derby [4]	Bilting Hawk
1943 Welsh Greyhound Derby	Suspended

Summary

War time attendances remained strong but there were no known new tracks opened. The only major competitions to take place were again the Scottish Greyhound Derby and Irish Greyhound Derby. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

The phenomenon that was a continual growth of attendances and annual totalisator turnover was observed once again, attendances paid £60,382,219 in bets on the totalisator alone. An astonishing figure in 1943, especially taking into account the war. ^[9]

Ballynennan Moon

Ballynennan Moon continued to be the outstanding performer of the year, he continued where he had left of in 1942 and raced in eighty consecutive weeks of racing. He won the Joe Harmon Memorial Stakes, the Charlton Spring Cup and the Metropolitan Cup. ^{[5] [6] [7] [10]}

Competitions

Bilting Hawk won the Scottish Derby ^[11] and a new puppy called Ballyhennessy Seal, whelped in April 1942, by Lone Seal out of Canadian Glory, arrived at Catford after his two owners had each paid £50 for the puppy. Within two weeks of his arrival he won the 18th Rochester Stakes, his first race in England. Next he was aimed for the Puppy Derby at Wimbledon Stadium where he won his heat by fourteen lengths in 28.88sec, one of the fastest times ever recorded at the track, and was made even-money favourite to win the event outright. He was unlucky to lose the final by a short head to Allardstown Playboy. ^{[12] [13]}

Towards the end of the year, the then Wimbledon racing manager, Con Stevens, introduced a special invitation race for puppy champions. The invitees included Allardstown Playboy; Dark Tiger, the Trafalgar Cup; Erlegh Hero, winner of the British Produce Stakes, Model Dasher, the Midland Puppy Derby winner, Fawn Cherry, winner of the Irish Puppy Derby and Ballyhennessy Seal. The latter won the invitation race leading all the way, to win by one and a half lengths in a time of 28.99sec. Blackwater Cutlet won the London Cup at Clapton by twelve lengths from Ballykildare, just one week after they had dead heated in the Stewards Cup at Walthamstow. ^{[5] [6] [7] [14]}

The Golden Crest prize money was reduced due to wartime cutbacks. ^[15]

News

Margaret Hyland became one of the few women trainers to hold a licence joined Rochester Stadium. ^[16]

Ireland

The Irish Derby would never be run outside of Dublin again which upset the owners of the Irish provincial tracks. The Irish Coursing Club made the decision based on the fact that the capital city offered better facilities and higher prize money. Famous Knight, a red fawn dog started odds on favourite throughout the competition and justified the odds by remaining unbeaten and claiming the final. ^{[2] [3]}

Principal races

Scottish Greyhound Derby, Carntyne (17 Jul, 525y £250) Pos Name of Greyhound Trainer SP Time (sec) Trap 1st Bilting Hawk Cecil Askey 9/4 29.25 6 2nd Merry Two Star Private 8/1 29.41 5 3rd Derry's Son Sidney Orton 6/4f 29.43 1 4th Wavecrest III M Greenshields 6/1 29.45 3 5th Monarch of the Glen Stan Biss 7/2 29.93 4 N/R Dee Mellow Wimbledon

Totalisator Returns

Extended content

The totalisator returns declared to the licensing authorities for the year 1943 are listed below. Tracks that did not have a totalisator in operation are not listed. [9] Stadium Turnover £ London (White City) 5,579,036 London (Harringay) 3,263,328 London (Wembley) 3,224,759 4 Glasgow Stadia combined (Albion, Carntyne, Shawfield, White City) 2,509,065 London (Walthamstow) 2,406,489 London (Wimbledon) 2,109,446 London (Clapton) 1,785,125 Birmingham (Perry Barr, old) 1,763,211 London (Catford) 1,395,772 Manchester (Belle Vue) 1,334,563 London (New Cross) 1,241,682 London (Wandsworth) 1,230,310 London (West Ham) 1,098,213 London (Stamford Bridge) 980,738 Sheffield (Owlerton) 979,356 Birmingham (Hall Green) 978,387 Bradford (Greenfield) 954,087 Bristol (Eastville) 945,546 Sheffield (Darnall) 843,407 Wolverhampton (Monmore) 814,961 London (Hendon) 809,462 Edinburgh (Powderhall) 806,344 Coventry (Lythalls Lane) 789,659 Liverpool (White City) 751,040 London (Park Royal) 742,552 Manchester (Salford) 711,219 Leicester (Blackbird Rd) 710,056 London (Hackney) 700,983 Newcastle (Brough Park) 689,560 Brighton & Hove 683,717 Romford 670,631 Stadium Turnover £ Crayford & Bexleyheath 645,496 Liverpool (Stanley) 597,686 Birmingham (Kings Heath) 564,822 Liverpool (Seaforth) 518,112 Newcastle (Gosforth) 506,731 London (Charlton) 502,270 Gateshead 467,509 Leeds (Elland Road) 463,627 Gloucester & Cheltenham 437,608 Manchester (White City) 436,067 Southampton 432,551 Derby 427,727 South Shields 396,226 Slough 395,908 Newcastle (White City) 395,024 Portsmouth 368,554 Cardiff (Arms Park) 361,058 Hull (Old Craven Park) 353,782 Bradford (City) 351,042 Sunderland 344,321 Reading (Oxford Road) 342,883 Norwich (Boundary Park) 339,327 Stoke-on-Trent (Hanley) 331,100 Stanley (Co Durham) 326,018 Preston 319,655 Rochester & Chatham 308,242 West Hartlepool 287,360 Nottingham (White City) 275,675 Oxford 275,675 Middlesbrough 265,178 Bristol (Knowle) 255,961 Sheffield (Hyde Park) 251,393 Stadium Turnover £ Stoke-on-Trent (Cobridge) 238,161 Newport 213,380 Houghton-le-Spring 210,277 Ipswich 208,383 Rochdale 178,818 London (Dagenham) 160,010 Long Eaton 156,486 Aberdeen 151,731 Luton 144,423 Norwich (City) 133,155 Edinburgh (Stenhouse) 115,728 Easington (Co Durham) 112,293 Wigan (Poolstock) 102,492 Coundon (Co Durham) 90,921 Warrington 84,309 London (Southall) 81,696 London (Stratford) 81,334 Doncaster (Spotbrough) 55,690 Wishaw (North Lanarks) 52,718 Wallyford (East Lothian) 52,462 Glasgow (Mount Vernon) 32,506 Leeds (Parkside) 32,391 Rotherham 30,927 Kingskerswell (Devon) 30,593 Motherwell (Clyde Valley) 29,210 Durham City 26,825 Aldershot 19,427 Castleford (Whitwood) 13,716 Worksop 10,030 Stockport (Hazel Grove) 9,374 Wombwell (South Yorks) 4,616 Summary Area Turnover London £ 28,709,332 Rest of England £ 26,607,012 Wales £ 574,438 Scotland £ 3,778,018 Total £ 59,668,800

References

1. Fry, Paul (1995). The Official NGRC Greyhound Racing Yearbook. Ringpress Books. ISBN   186054-010-4.
2. Comyn, John. 50 Years of Greyhound Racing in Ireland. Aherlow Publishers Ltd.
3. Fortune, Michael. Irish Greyhound Derby 1932-1981. Victory Irish Promotions Ltd.
4. Hobbs, Jonathan (2007). Greyhound Annual 2008, pages 153-154. Raceform. ISBN   978-1-905153-53-4.
5. Genders, Roy (1975). The Greyhound and Racing Greyhound. Page Brothers (Norwich). ISBN   0-85020-0474.
6. Genders, Roy (1981). The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN   07207-1106-1.
7. Genders, Roy (1990). NGRC book of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN   0-7207-1804-X.
8. Hobbs, Jonathan (2002). Greyhound Annual 2003. Raceform. ISBN   1-904317-07-3.
9. Particulars of Licensed tracks, table 1 Licensed Dog Racecourses. Licensing Authorities. 1943.
10. "Hall of Fame, Ballynennan Moon". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
11. "Final of the Scottish Derby" . Daily Record. 15 July 1943. Retrieved 8 December 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
12. Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File. Ringpress Books. ISBN   0-948955-15-5.
13. "Hall of Fame, BallyHennessy Seal". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
14. Hobbs, Jonathan (2002). Greyhound Annual 2003. Raceform. ISBN   1-904317-07-3.
15. "Greyhound Star (Remember When November 1943)". Greyhound Star. 25 November 2018.
16. Tarter, P Howard (1949). Greyhound Racing Encyclopedia. Fleet Publishing Company Ltd.