1992 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year

1992 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
Greyhound of the Year Murlens Abbey
←  1991 1993  →

The 1992 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 66th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland. ^[1]

Roll of honour

Major winners
Award	Name of winner
1992 English Greyhound Derby	Farloe Melody [2] [3]
1992 Irish Greyhound Derby	Manx Treasure [4]
1992 Scottish Greyhound Derby	Glideaway Silver [5]
Greyhound Trainer of the Year	John McGee Sr.
Greyhound of the Year	Murlens Abbey
Irish Greyhound of the Year	Farloe Melody
Trainers Championship	John McGee Sr.

Hurdling champion Kildare Slippy in 1992

Summary

The industry finally received a levy of sorts. On 10 March Tory chancellor Norman Lamont announced a reduction in betting tax ^[6] and asked the bookmakers for a voluntary arrangement whereby a fund could be directed to the greyhound racing industry. He had given a clear signal that he expected bookmakers to pay the industry and the British Greyhound Racing Fund was born. This fund relied on the voluntary payments of bookmakers and the big three firms Ladbrokes, William Hill and Corals paid and encouraged smaller bookmakers to participate. ^[7]

The positive was that bookmakers had agreed but the negative was that the payment equated to 0.25%. The proposed payment resulted in the Greyhound Board refusing to agree with a fund that was controlled by the bookmakers. However they would eventually give in and accepted the £1.2 million, which mainly went back into prize money. ^[1]

The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) released the annual returns, with totalisator turnover at £91,766,414 and attendances recorded at 3,864,288 from 6154 meetings. The 17.5% track tote deduction was ended with tracks now able to choose their own percentage which inevitably resulted in increases; the Greyhound Racing Association and Corals angered patrons by charging 25%, followed by Ladbrokes at 19.7%. ^[8]

Murlens Abbey trained by John Copplestone was voted Greyhound of the Year after winning the Arc, the Edinburgh Cup and the East Anglian Derby. Farloe Melody was voted Irish Greyhound of the Year after winning the 1992 English Greyhound Derby, ^[9] Easter Cup and Dundalk International. ^[1]

John McGee won the Greyhound Trainer of the Year for the fifth successive year. ^{[10] [1]} He also secured his second Trainers Championship, winning four of the eight races that formed the event, he finished on 56 points, which was 22 points ahead of second placed Patsy Byrne on 34. ^[11]

Tracks

Corals sold Powderhall to Eddie Ramsay. Independent track Berwick opened but Aldershot in Tongham closed in November. ^{[1] [10]}

The debt ridden Brent Walker the owners of William Hill and Hackney Wick Stadium were selling assets in order to avoid administration. ^[12]

News

Racing expanded with betting shops allowed to open in the evenings and on Sundays, the first ever Sunday fixture was held at Sunderland featuring the Mailcom Northern Puppy Derby heats. ^[10] GRA parent company Wembley plc. announced losses of £8m despite a £13m profit in its UK operation. ^[1]

Canterbury play host to a new TV channel called Sportscast and also scrapped eight dog races on evening cards after tote turnover on them drops lower than six dog races. British Breeding shows a significant decrease from 43% to 26% of registered greyhounds and continues to go down. ^[1]

Competitions

The best hurdler since Sherrys Prince emerged, a white and brindle dog called Kildare Slippy. The Paddy Hancox trained greyhound had reached the 1991 Grand National final, at Hall Green. He won the 1992 Grand National final by 9¾ lengths recording 28.52, a new track record. When the time was announced it stunned the crowd because the track record for 474 metres on the flat at Hall Green was 28.56. Kildare Slippy had just jumped five hurdles and completed the circuit four spots (1 spot = 0.01 sec) faster than the existing flat record making it one of the greatest individual runs in history. In addition to the run he broke the track record at Catford setting new figures of 23.73 which was faster than the Scurry Gold Cup final. A 28.09 track record at Powderhall was just nine spots slower than the time set by Murlens Abbey (the eventual greyhound of the year) in the Edinburgh Cup final. He won the Scottish Grand National before he attempted to win the Irish Grand National. Despite a new track record at Shelbourne Park in an incredible 29.18, he missed the break in the final and failed to achieve the triple crown. A Linda Mullins trained hurdler called Deerpark Jim won 31 races form 45 starts and was denied greater success because Kildare Slippy was around the same time. ^{[13] [14] [1]}

An event called the Reading Masters was inaugurated with the provincial track of Reading offering a first prize of £15,000. Terry Kibble's Dempsey Duke was the first winner. The Scottish Greyhound Derby ended in a win for Glideaway Sam but only because the Irish Derby champion Ardfert Mick, trained by Matt O'Donnell suffered a serious injury when easily set for victory, he passed the line trailing in last and badly lame. ^{[13] [14] [1]}

Natalie and Nick Savva enjoyed a great year with a 1–2 in the John Humphreys Gold Collar final with Westmead Suprise and Westmead Spirit, followed by the Laurent Perrier Grand Prix success of Westmead Darkie. A Laurels 1–2 with Balligari and Right Move was next ending with a St Leger final appearance for Westmead Darkie. Pineapple Lemon defeated Murlens Abbey in the Select Stakes at Wembley providing some reward for a very good year by the Michael Compton trained brindle. Pineapple Lemon had reached a number of finals and broken track records at Sheffield. ^{[13] [14] [1]}

Principal UK races

Daily Mirror Grand National, Hall Green (Apr 1, 474m h, £5,000) Pos Name of greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Kildare Slippy [15] Paddy Hancox 1-1f 28.52+ 4 2nd Spot on Spur Tom Foster 14-1 29.30 3 3rd Lisnakill Wish Philip Rees Jr. 5-4 29.52 2 4th Unbelievable Linda Mullins 10-1 29.68 6 5th Greenfield World Patsy Byrne 14-1 29.70 5 6th Sha Jen Stan Kennett 33-1 29.80 1 +Track record

BBC TV Trophy, Belle Vue (Apr 1, 855m, £6,000) Pos Name of greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Fortunate Man Tony Fell 6-4f 55.70 5 2nd Mobile Magic John Wileman 14-1 55.71 3 3rd Bobs Regan Brian Timcke 9-4 55.81 1 4th Moon Magic Richard Steele 8-1 56.25 6 5th Swiss Trips A McKenna 12-1 56.29 2 6th Jennys Wish Eric Jordan 11-2 56.39 4

Reading Masters, Reading (May 2, 465m, £15,000) Pos Name of greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Dempsey Duke Terry Kibble 9-4 28.09 6 2nd Deanpark Atom Tony Meek 5-4f 28.15 1 3rd Bower Dancer Tony Meek 14-1 28.33 5 4th Apres Soleil Bill Bookle 4-1 28.41 3 5th Crossford Jumbo John Copplestone 7-1 28.47 2 6th Lady Waltham John Copplestone 12-1 28.67 4

Regal Scottish Derby, Shawfield (May 16, 500m, £20,000) Pos Name of greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Glideaway Sam Michael Compton 25-1 30.26 6 2nd Polnoon Chief Frazer Black 6-1 30.36 5 3rd Ardcaien Slick G Smith Shaw 25-1 30.44 1 4th Pineapple Lemon Michael Compton 2-1 30.74 4 5th Balligari Natalie Savva 14-1 30.78 2 6th Ardfert Mick Matt O'Donnell 4-5f 00.00 3

Fosters Scurry Gold Cup, Catford (Jul 11, 385m, £2,000) Pos Name of greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Glengar Desire Jimmy Fletcher 5-1 23.96 3 2nd Kind of Magic Litzi Miller 6-1 24.00 2 3rd Super Vara Ann Finch 7-4f 24.08 6 4th Glenbaron Arthur Boyce 7-1 24.12 1 5th Mags Joy Pa Fitzgerald 6-1 24.56 4 6th Spratacus Peter Rich 9-2 24.74 5

John Humphreys Gold Collar, Catford (Sep 19, 555m, £7,500) Pos Name of greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Westmead Suprise Natalie Savva 6-4 34.75 3 2nd Westmead Spirit Natalie Savva 11-10f 34.76 6 3rd Corrow Flag John Wileman 14-1 34.80 2 4th Mauir Joyful John Gibbons 14-1 34.81 5 5th Some Whisper Alf Ellis 16-1 35.35 4 6th Droopys Charlie Paddy Milligan 16-1 35.45 1

Fosters Cesarewitch, Belle Vue (Sep 26, 853m, £10,000) Pos Name of greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Zap Alan Honeyfield 12-1 55.44 2 2nd Westpark Birdie Ron Barber 4-7f 55.94 6 3rd Dream of Rosie D Bennett 10-1 55.95 3 4th Flower Dale Edna Armstrong 8-1 56.11 5 5th Bodies Lisa Terry Hart 4-1 56.13 1 6th Colleague G Corbett 100-1 56.51 4

Laurent-Perrier Grand Prix, Walthamstow (Oct 10, 640m, £7,500) Pos Name of greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Westmead Darkie Natalie Savva 2-1f 39.36 5 2nd Gortmore Express Linda Mullins 5-1 39.66 6 3rd Winsor Abbey John McGee Sr. 9-4 40.02 3 4th Celtic Knight Natalie Savva 20-1 40.05 4 5th Parquet Pet Arthur Hitch 11-2 40.39 2 6th Tomanine Tutu Ernie Gaskin Sr. 8-1 40.42 1

Ike Morris Laurels, Wimbledon (Oct 17, 460m, £7,500) Pos Name of greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Balligari Natalie Savva 6-4 27.37 2 2nd Right Move Natalie Savva 11-10f 27.79 6 3rd Clifden Airport Pa Fitzgerald 8-1 27.91 1 4th Singing Forever Arthur Hitch 20-1 28.13 4 5th Fast Soda Philip Rees Jr. 20-1 28.19 3 6th Duagh Colours Tony Meek 10-1 28.31 5

Wendy Fair St Leger, Wembley (Nov 13, 655m, £10,000) Pos Name of greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Airmount Flash Jimmy Gibson 3-1 39.81 1 2nd Grace Road Linda Mullins 10-1 40.19 3 3rd Westmead Darkie Natalie Savva 7-2 40.29 2 4th Mountleader Cruz Norman Johnson 8-1 40.37 4 5th Lets All Boogie John Coleman 6-1 40.45 5 6th Thin Times Sam Sykes 2-1f 40.53 6

St Marys Hospital Oaks, Wimbledon (Dec 19, 480m, £6,000) Pos Name of greyhound Trainer SP Time Trap 1st Skelligs Smurf Bob Gilling 11-8f 29.71 6 2nd All At Sea Marlene Westwood 5-2 29.81 1 3rd Redwood Girl Ernie Gaskin Sr. 6-1 29.87 3 4th Bigwood Silver Philip Rees Jr. 6-1 30.05 2 5th Knockroe Vixen Ray Peacock 6-1 30.11 4 6th Clune Rambler Kenny Linzell 14-1 30.21 5

Totalisator returns

Extended content

The totalisator returns declared to the National Greyhound Racing Club for the year 1992 are listed below. [16] [17] Stadium Turnover £ London (Walthamstow) 13,208,939 London (Wimbledon) 12,312,799 Romford 7,825,337 Birmingham (Hall Green) 5,213,066 London (Catford) 4,979,530 Brighton & Hove 4,920,549 Manchester (Belle Vue) 4,610,715 London (Wembley) 3,455,849 Crayford 3,234,317 Glasgow (Shawfield) 2,920,627 Sunderland 2,392,331 Newcastle (Brough Park) 2,004,705 Stadium Turnover £ Birmingham (Perry Barr) 1,944,696 Sheffield (Owlerton) 1,942,019 Oxford 1,773,220 Wolverhampton (Monmore) 1,568,938 Yarmouth 1,564,271 Edinburgh (Powderhall) 1,547,600 Reading 1,468,912 Ramsgate 1,428,010 Peterborough 1,418,685 Portsmouth 1,316,072 Bristol 1,109,860 Canterbury 1,094,930 Stadium Turnover £ Swindon 816,227 Nottingham 795,797 Milton Keynes 768,616 Rye House 672,667 Henlow (Bedfordshire) 523,846 Middlesbrough 518,862 Swaffham 494,050 Norton Canes 439,741 London (Hackney) 427,257 Cradley Heath 408,150 Hull (New Craven Park) 376,730 Mildenhall 268,494

References

1. Fry, Paul (1995). The Official NGRC Greyhound Racing Yearbook. Ringpress Books. ISBN   186054-010-4.
2. "1992". Greyhound Data.
3. National Greyhound Racing Club Calendar, July 1992 edition. National Greyhound Racing Club.
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. Rae, George (29 May 1992). "Rae, George. "Levy Board keen to boost prize-money." Times, 29 May 1992, p. 34". The Times. Times Digital Archives. p. 34.
7. Goodbody, John (6 March 1992). "goodbody, John. "Call for betting to assist sport." Times, 6 Mar. 1992, p. 32". The Times. Times Digital Archives. p. 32.
8. NGRC calendar. National Greyhound Racing Club. January 1993.
9. "1992". Greyhound Data.
10. Hobbs, Jonathan (2002). Greyhound Annual 2003. Raceform. ISBN   1-904317-07-3.
11. "All Those Aprils". Vol. 16, no. 4. Greyhound Star. 4 April 1998.
12. ""Brent Walker sale." Times, 4 Sept. 1992". The Times. Times Digital Archives. 4 September 1992.
13. Hobbs, Jonathan (2004). Greyhound Annual 2005. Raceform. ISBN   1-904317-58-8.
14. Hobbs, Jonathan (2008). Greyhound Annual 2008. Raceform. ISBN   978-1-905153-534.
15. "All Those Aprils". Vol. 16, no. 4. Greyhound Star. 4 April 1998.
16. Totalisator returns of National Greyhound Racing Club Licensed tracks. National Greyhound Racing Club. 1992.
17. "Promoters stay mum about crowds". No. 2427. Greyhound Owner and Breeder. 22 January 1993.