1944 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year

1944 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
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The 1944 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 19th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland. ^[1]

Roll of honour

Major Winners
Award	Name of Winner
1944 English Greyhound Derby	Suspended
1944 Irish Greyhound Derby [2] [3]	Clonbonny Bridge
1944 Scottish Greyhound Derby [4]	Gladstone Brigadier
1944 Welsh Greyhound Derby	Suspended

Summary

The popularity of racing continued to grow with attendances and totalisator turnover both rising once again despite the wartime restrictions imposed in many other aspects of life. Attendances and annual totalisator turnover increased significantly once again. The totalisator turnover saw an increase in excess of 20% from the previous year when a figure of 74,845,814 was declared. ^[5]

The leading greyhound company, the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) recorded a record profit of £578,000 but the GRA chairman and managing director Francis Gentle (son of William Gentle) announced that government restrictions on racing fixtures and excess profits taxation was affecting the business dividends. The taxation was the equivalent of £2,000 per day. ^[6]

The headlines created during the year revolved around the success of two greyhounds Ballynennan Moon and Ballyhennessy Seal. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]}

Ballynennan Moon

After a short rest during the winter the brindle dog won his first ten races and was again on course to beat Mick the Miller's world record for consecutive wins. However his attempt was unsuccessful when he was again beaten by Laughing Lackey, at White City. His career came to an end in the Stewards' Cup when he pulled up lame and was retired to stud. At stud he was the first stud dog in history to command a 100 guineas mating fee but he failed to sire any offspring of note. His career record read 65 wins from his 91 races in Britain and he won 38 trophies and £4,000 in prize money, a significant figure during the 1940s. ^{[7] [8] [9] [11] [12]}

Ballyhennessy Seal

Ballyhennessy Seal moved from his Catford Stadium base to Wimbledon Stadium and was placed in the care of trainer Stan Martin. In the May Stakes at Stamford Bridge he set a new track and world record when clocking 27.64sec for the 500yds course. This was followed by an appearance in the Circuit at Walthamstow Stadium where another new track record was set. The track record time of 28.62 was recorded in the semi-finals with yet another track record of 28.59 coming in the final. The greyhound had set three track records in eight days and was still officially a puppy. Other competition wins included the Wembley Summer Cup, the Stewards Cup and the International. ^{[13] [14]}

Competitions

The 1943 Irish Greyhound Derby champion Famous Knight had left Ireland to race in the United Kingdom and reached the final of the 1944 Scottish Greyhound Derby, which was won by Gladstone Brigadier. ^{[15] [16]}

Ireland

The 1944 Irish Greyhound Derby was considered the best to date. Shelbourne Park entries included Mad Tanist, Tanimon, Fawn Cherry, Mountain Emperor, Fair Marquis, Clonbonny Bridge, Down Signal and Castledown Turn. A controversial final ended with Clonbonny Bridge defeating the early leader Down Signal in a disputed close finish. ^{[2] [3]}

As the year progressed and wartime restrictions were relaxed slightly it became apparent that British breeding (which was at an extreme low) could not supply the industry with enough greyhounds. This led to an export from Ireland to England of greyhounds valuing £434,685 during 1944. ^[17]

News

Four top Irish-bred greyhounds were sold by Aldridges on 21 July, at their famous greyhound auctions. The four owned by Miss G Stockman from London and trained by Stan Biss went for a total of £3,370. Derryboy Jubilee topped the quartet at £1,312 followed by Puppy Derby champion Allardstown Playboy £997, Monarch of the Glen (Easter Cup and double St Leger winner) £619, with finally Slinkey sold for £441. It turned out to be a shrewd piece of business on the part of Stockman because only Derryboy Jubilee claimed further success winning the Wimbledon Gold Cup in 1945. ^{[18] [7] [8] [9]}

Principal races

Scottish Greyhound Derby, Carntyne (Jul 1, 525y) Pos Name of Greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Gladstone Brigadier Ken Newham 2-1f 29.55 6 2nd Farloe Mac John Hudspeth 5-1 29.95 4 3rd Castlewood Captain Cornelius Crowley 6-1 29.99 3 4th Crystal City Clapton 6-1 30.03 5 5th Famous Knight Leeds 9-4 30.19 2 6th Crutchy Dan Warrington 20-1 30.43 1

Totalisator Returns

Extended content

The totalisator returns declared to the licensing authorities for the year 1944 are listed below. Tracks that did not have a totalisator in operation are not listed. [5] Stadium Turnover £ London (White City) 7,124,888 London (Harringay) 4,282,064 London (Wembley) 3,965,179 London (Walthamstow) 2,789,450 Birmingham (Perry Barr, old) 1,922,141 London (Clapton) 1,882,284 London (Wimbledon) 1,761,748 Manchester (Belle Vue) 1,669,147 London (Catford) 1,608,090 London (Wandsworth) 1,481,021 London (New Cross) 1,363,863 London (Stamford Bridge) 1,271,822 Glasgow (Shawfield) 1,266,097 Sheffield (Owlerton) 1,173,796 Bradford (Greenfield) 1,125,734 Sheffield (Darnall) 1,118,061 Bristol (Eastville) 1,108,165 Coventry (Lythalls Lane) 1,105,880 Glasgow (White City) 1,101,379 Birmingham (Hall Green) 1,072,079 Edinburgh (Powderhall) 1,028,000 Glasgow (Albion) 1,020,838 Brighton & Hove 963,061 London (Hendon) 961,672 Leicester (Blackbird Rd) 933,797 Manchester (Salford) 873,238 Liverpool (Stanley) 864,618 London (Hackney) 848,306 Liverpool (White City) 841,182 Wolverhampton (Monmore) 836,585 Glasgow (Carntyne) 825,664 London (Park Royal) 809,305 Newcastle (Brough Park) 807,277 Liverpool (Seaforth) 806,681 Romford 765,907 London (Dagenham) 675,273 Stadium Turnover £ Crayford & Bexleyheath 671,499 Nottingham (White City) 658,441 Birmingham (Kings Heath) 627,053 London (Charlton) 620,065 Southampton 619,247 Blackpool (St Anne's) 616,155 Newcastle (Gosforth) 611,373 Gateshead 556,956 Manchester (White City) 531,481 Norwich (Boundary Park) 530,709 Plymouth 524,202 Slough 523,544 South Shields 519,748 Leeds (Elland Road) 513,745 Hull (Old Craven Park) 489,836 Cardiff (Arms Park) 476,679 Derby 472,484 Portsmouth 463,434 Gloucester & Cheltenham 461,672 Ashington (Co Durham) 457,137 Bradford (City) 446,622 Stoke-on-Trent (Hanley) 446,173 Newcastle (White City) 434,300 Reading (Oxford Road) 421,585 Rochester & Chatham 389,292 Sunderland 379,916 Stanley (Co Durham) 377,109 Middlesbrough 316,056 West Hartlepool 308,509 Preston 305,604 Oxford 294,925 Sheffield (Hyde Park) 272,390 Stoke-on-Trent (Cobridge) 267,916 Bristol (Knowle) 263,023 Newport 261,343 Ipswich 259,335 Stadium Turnover £ Exeter (Marsh Barton) 255,711 Exeter (County Ground) 249,132 Rochdale 246,884 London (West Ham) 238,959 Houghton-le-Spring 236,343 Long Eaton 222,876 Glasgow (Firhill) 221,665 Bolton 217,975 Aberdeen 183,366 Norwich (City) 178,274 Wigan (Poolstock) 168,839 Edinburgh (Stenhouse) 144,000 Luton 143,425 Warrington 134,761 London (Southall) 123,631 Falkirk (Brockville Park) 123,416 Easington (Co Durham) 113,299 Coundon (Co Durham) 95,668 London (Stratford) 95,642 Doncaster (Spotbrough) 65,554 Wallyford (East Lothian) 62,881 Wishaw (North Lanarks) 60,314 Aldershot 52,833 Rotherham 41,374 Leeds (Parkside) 40,140 Glasgow (Mount Vernon) 38,135 Kingskerswell (Devon) 28,949 Motherwell (Clyde Valley) 28,344 Thornton (Fife) 21,666 Durham City 13,912 Castleford (Whitwood) 11,983 Wombwell (South Yorks) 11,424 Stockport (Hazel Grove) 11,240 Worksop 10,953 Summary Area Turnover London £ 32,448,244 Rest of England £ 32,866,695 Wales £ 738,022 Scotland £ 4,400,000 Total £ 70,452,961

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. Particulars of Licensed tracks, table 1 Licensed Dog Racecourses. Licensing Authorities. 1944.
6. ""Greyhound Racing Association." Times, 11 Apr. 1945, p. 10". The Times . 11 April 1945. p. 10.
7. Genders, Roy (1975). The Greyhound and Racing Greyhound. Page Brothers (Norwich). ISBN   0-85020-0474.
8. Genders, Roy (1981). The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN   07207-1106-1.
9. Genders, Roy (1990). NGRC book of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN   0-7207-1804-X.
10. Hobbs, Jonathan (2002). Greyhound Annual 2003. Raceform. ISBN   1-904317-07-3.
11. "Hall of Fame, Ballynennan Moon". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
12. "Ballynennan Moon". Greyhound Data.
13. "Hall of Fame, Ballyhennessy Seal". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
14. "Ballyhennessy Seal". Greyhound Data.
15. Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File. Ringpress Books. ISBN   0-948955-15-5.
16. Hobbs, Jonathan (2002). Greyhound Annual 2003. Raceform. ISBN   1-904317-07-3.
17. Edwards Clarke, H (1949). The Modern Greyhound. Hutchinson's Library of Sports and Pastimes.
18. Tarter, P Howard (1949). Greyhound Racing Encyclopedia. Fleet Publishing Company Ltd.