1986 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year

1986 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
Grand Prix & Gold Collar champion Westmead Move
←  1985 1987  →

The 1986 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 60th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland. ^[1]

Roll of honour

Major Winners
Award	Name of Winner
1986 English Greyhound Derby	Tico [2] [3]
1986 Irish Greyhound Derby	Kyle Jack [4]
1986 Scottish Greyhound Derby	Not held [5]
Greyhound Trainer of the Year	George Curtis
Greyhound of the Year	Ballyregan Bob
Irish Greyhound of the Year	Storm Villa
Trainers Championship	Kenny Linzell

Summary

The year was dominated by the two superstar greyhounds Ballyregan Bob and Scurlogue Champ. Ballyregan Bob broke the world record by winning 32 consecutive races. The George Curtis trained greyhound was voted Greyhound of the Year for the second time. ^{[6] [7]} He had begun the year by winning seven more consecutive races, three of which were in track record times but a re-occurrence of his wrist injury had left him on 28 wins. This was just three short of the world record held by American greyhound Joe Dump trained by J C Stanley, which was set in 1979. ^[8] The long-awaited winning re-appearance was on 13 November at Hove followed by wins 30 and 31 at Harringay, breaking yet another track record in the 31st victory that also equalled the world record. On 9 December Ballyregan Bob lined up for the Racing Post Challenge over 695 metres at his home track Hove. He won easily by 9¼ lengths and duly recorded 32 consecutive wins. Curtis and owners Cliff and Jess Kevern retired the champion to stud. ^[9]

Scurlogue Champ achieved equal stardom by winning a second BBC Television Trophy and continued to amuse crowds with his remarkable running style, that off letting the field gain a significant lead before winning from a seemingly lost position. ^{[10] [8]} His career came to an end on 14 August when he finished lame at Nottingham in a 754-metre event and was retired. Ken Peckham's black dog ended with a record of 51 wins from 63 races and 20 track records. ^[9]

The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) released the annual returns, with totalisator turnover at £66,192,736 and attendances recorded at 3,792,738 from 5247 meetings. Track tote remained at 17.5% and government tote tax at 4%. ^[11]

Tracks

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 an offer from Walthamstow Racing Manager Tony Smith, an offer he could not refuse. The De Mulder appointment helped Oxford cover the loss of the soon to be English Greyhound Derby winning trainer Arthur Hitch to Slough. ^{[8] [9] [12] [13]}

Powderhall in Edinburgh was another to invest and marked their 60th anniversary with a new £400,000 grandstand but rival track Shawfield in Glasgow was closed by the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA). After negotiations it was sold to Shawfield Greyhound Racing and Leisure Company Ltd and they, in turn, would re-open the track the following year. The Brandon Stadium in Coventry closed for greyhound racing after only eight years trading although the track layout would remain in place and the Eclipse Stakes moved to Nottingham. ^[8] The Ladbrokes £2½ million grand re-opening of Crayford Stadium took place on 1 September with the emphasis on providing the betting shops with the Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service (BAGS). ^{[9] [12] [13]}

News

There were thirty fully licensed tracks, eight permit tracks and 58 independent tracks. Whitwood in Castleford raced for the first time under NGRC rules after switching from independent status. ^[8] Independent track Halcrow in Gretna was opened by James Norman and sons in June but Cleethorpes closed. ^[8]

Competitions

Tico completed in the Pall Mall Stakes over 475m at Harringay and mastered his great rival Hot Sauce Yankee when beating him by just under three lengths in 28.45 seconds and later he returned for a Daily Mirror Derby Trial Stakes, which he won by nearly five lengths in 28.44 sec. Tico won the 1986 English Greyhound Derby ^[3] and then reached the final of the 1986 Irish Greyhound Derby. ^[14] His significant achievements were slightly overshadowed by the exploits of the two superstars.

A white and blue dog called Mollifrend Lucky won the Scurry Gold Cup when defeating Master Hardy in July and the Laurels at Wimbledon Stadium. ^{[8] [9] [12]}

Savva camp continued their winning ways and produced a brilliant litter, which included Westmead Move, Olivers Wish and Westmead Call. While still a puppy Westmead Move won the Gold Collar at Catford Stadium and then proved to be a bitch of outstanding ability when going on to win the Grand Prix at Walthamstow, where she became the first greyhound to lower a track record set by Ballyregan Bob. Westmead Move went on to win the Midland Oaks at Hall Green as well as the Brighton Belle at Hove. ^{[8] [9] [12] [1]}

Principal UK races

Grand National, Hall Green (April 5, 474m h, £3,000) Pos Name of Greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Castlelyons Cash Dinky Luckhurst 5-4f 29.51 4 2nd Distant Echo Bob Young 4-1 29.69 5 3rd Musical Magpie Fred Wiseman 11-2 29.72 3 4th Ballyseedy Man Paddy Milligan 6-1 29.92 1 5th City Duke Eric Pateman 12-1 30.02 2 6th Rivers Run Free Gordon Hodson 5-1 30.03 6

BBC TV Trophy, Brough Park (April 30, 825m, £3,000) Pos Name of Greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Scurlogue Champ Ken Peckham 2-5f 52.65 3 2nd Sneaky Liberty 12-1 52.89 4 3rd Bad Decision 8-1 52.95 6 4th Yankees Shadow George Curtis 7-1 53.15 5 5th My Tootsie Stewart Loan 16-1 53.37 1 6th Rosewood Girl Kenny Linzell 14-1 53.69 2

Scurry Gold Cup, Slough (Jul 19, 442m, £5,000) Pos Name of Greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Mollifrend Lucky Colin Packham 5-4f 26.62 1 2nd Master Hardy Arthur Hitch 11-8 26.72 2 3rd Chiltern Sam Peggy Cope 10-1 27.12 4 4th Chiltern Charlie Peggy Cope 25-1 27.13 3 5th Top Prince Colin Packham 25-1 27.33 5 6th Polerone Dancer 10-1 27.97 6

St Leger, Wembley (Aug 29, 655m, £8,000) Pos Name of Greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Lone Wolf George Curtis 9-2 39.99 4 2nd Low Sail [15] Nick Savva 1-2f 40.05 1 3rd Winsor Ann George Curtis 50-1 40.23 5 4th Some Enchanter Bertie Gaynor 50-1 40.33 2 5th Mineola Athena Arthur Hitch 8-1 40.45 6 6th Ballyhaden Queen Stan Gudgin 7-1 40.55 3

Gold Collar, Catford (Sep 20, 555m, £5,000) Pos Name of Greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Westmead Move Nick Savva 11-4 34.80 6 2nd Rosehip Trish Ernie Wiley 4-1 34.98 3 3rd Cannon Express Derek Knight 12-1 35.06 2 4th Racewell Flyer Gary Baggs 9-2 35.40 5 5th Lilian Swan 20-1 35.52 4 6th Lively Sailor John Gibbons 11-8f 35.82 1

Cesarewitch, Belle Vue (Sep 27, 853m, £3,000) Pos Name of Greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Yankees Shadow George Curtis 4-7f 54.90 3 2nd Easy Rodger John Honeysett 6-1 55.04 2 3rd Change Guard Trevor Draper 9-4 55.36 1 4th Raywee Delight Kenny Linzell 20-1 55.39 6 5th Mill Race Rose 100-1 55.81 5 6th Father Ralph 66-1 56.33 4

The Grand Prix, Walthamstow (Oct 11, 640m, £5,000) Pos Name of Greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Westmead Move Nick Savva 10-11f 39.35+ 5 2nd Racewell Flyer Gary Baggs 5-2 39.77 1 3rd Easy Rodger John Honeysett 6-1 39.83 3 4th Mines Kango 33-1 39.87 4 5th The Pinnacle 16-1 40.03 2 6th Allscot John Gary Baggs 5-1 40.07 6 +Track record

Oaks, Harringay (Oct 24, 475m, £5,000) Pos Name of Greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Sullane Princess Peter Payne 20-1 28.79 4 2nd Culzean Echo Kenny Linzell 7-2 29.05 1 3rd Sparta Girl Hazel Walden 14-1 29.13 2 4th Mrs Cherry Derek Knight 12-1 29.43 3 5th Lucky Pine Bob Young 12-1 29.44 6 6th Fifty Pence Sean Bourke 2-5f 29.72 5

Laurels, Wimbledon (Dec 27, 460m, £5,000) Pos Name of Greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Mollifrend Lucky Colin Packham 4-6f 27.48 6 2nd Chalkies Pride Norah McEllistrim 10-1 27.62 2 3rd Fifty Pence Gary Baggs 4-1 27.63 5 4th Pagan Chimes 50-1 27.79 3 5th Spiral Darkie Gary Baggs 13-2 27.91 1 6th Fiddlers Run Gary Baggs 14-1 27.99 4

Totalisator returns

Extended content

The totalisator returns declared to the National Greyhound Racing Club for the year 1986 are listed below. [16] [17] [18] Stadium Turnover £ London (Walthamstow) 10,675,833 London (Wimbledon) 7,909,443 Romford 4,527,882 Brighton & Hove 4,276,914 London (Wembley) 3,857,199 London (Catford) 3,710,328 Slough 3,367,523 London (Harringay) 3,352,021 Birmingham (Hall Green) 2,633,754 Manchester (Belle Vue) 2,449,938 Edinburgh (Powderhall) 1,681,661 Newcastle (Brough Park) 1,475,357 Sheffield (Owlerton) 1,410,343 Stadium Turnover £ Ramsgate 1,127,105 Wolverhampton (Monmore) 1,106,336 Maidstone 1,064,394 Yarmouth 959,024 Glasgow (Shawfield) 948,922 Portsmouth 948,796 Oxford 842,823 London (Hackney) 796,894 Milton Keynes 694,805 Crayford & Bexleyheath 658,103 Bristol 604,009 Reading 551,877 Derby 530,138 Stadium Turnover £ Hull (Old Craven Park) 432,228 Henlow (Bedfordshire) 409,753 Rye House 403,660 Poole 393,807 Swindon 350,750 Cradley Heath 346,304 Nottingham 318,606 Peterborough 305,910 Norton Canes 282,388 Middlesbrough 268,862 Ipswich 238,671 Coventry 209,327 Castleford 71,048

References

1. Fry, Paul (1995). The Official NGRC Greyhound Racing Yearbook. Ringpress Books. ISBN   186054-010-4.
2. Dack, Barrie (1990). Greyhound Derby, the first 60 years, pages 188/189/190/191/192. Ringpress Books. ISBN   0-948955-36-8.
3. "1986". Greyhound Data.
4. Fortune, Michael. The 75 Years History of the Irish Greyhound Derby 1932-2006. Irish Greyhound Review. ISSN   0332-3536.
5. Hobbs, Jonathan (2007). Greyhound Annual 2008, pages 153-154. Raceform. ISBN   978-1-905153-53-4.
6. "Ballyregan Bob profile". Greyhound Data.
7. "Hall of Fame - Ballyregan Bob". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
8. Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File. Ringpress Books. ISBN   0-948955-15-5.
9. Genders, Roy (1990). NGRC book of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN   0-7207-1804-X.
10. "Hall of Fame - Scurlogue Champ". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
11. NGRC calendar. National Greyhound Racing Club. January 1987.
12. Barnes, Julia (1991). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File, Vol Two. Ringpress Books. ISBN   0-948955-61-9.
13. Barnes/Sellers, Julia/John (1992). Ladbrokes Greyhound Fact File. Ringpress Books. ISBN   0-948955-22-8.
14. Fortune, Michael. The 75 Years History of the Irish Greyhound Derby. Irish Greyhound Review. ISSN   0332-3536.
15. "Greyhound Star (Remember When November 1986)". Greyhound Star. 25 November 2018.
16. Totalisator returns of National Greyhound Racing Club Licensed tracks. National Greyhound Racing Club. 1986.
17. "Running Hard to Stand Still". Greyhound Owner. 28 January 1988.
18. "NGRC Tote Figures". No. 2115. Greyhound Owner. 29 January 1987.