Mildenhall Stadium

Mildenhall Stadium
Suffolk Downs

The speedway track
Location	Hayland Drove, West Row, IP28 8QU
Coordinates	52°22′07″N0°25′49″E / 52.36861°N 0.43028°E / 52.36861; 0.43028
Opened	1971
Tenants
Speedway Stock car racing greyhound racing

Mildenhall Stadium is a speedway, stock car racing and Greyhound Board of Great Britain regulated greyhound racing venue located in Mildenhall, Suffolk between Cambridge and Norwich. ^[1] The stadium is known as Suffolk Downs when greyhound racing takes place. ^[2]

The stadium has a Race View Restaurant and a fish and chip shop as well as the Fen Men bar licensed bar. There is a second licensed bar underneath the home straight grandstand. Speedway is held on Sundays (April to October). ^[3]

Origins and opening

Mildenhall is in an area with strong coursing roots and in later decades greyhound racing became a popular sport too. The market town in Suffolk is surrounded by agricultural land with the only significant landmark near the town being RAF Mildenhall, a Royal Air Force station that opened in 1934. It would take another 37 years before the area experienced speedway.

History

Speedway

In 1971 a speedway practice track was built on farmland owned by Terry Waters and two years later on the same farmland the track was moved to the south side of the junction where Hayland Drove meets Cooks Drove. The track was extremely primitive with a few sheds used as dressing rooms and straw bales made up the safety fence. In 1975 the Mildenhall Fen Tigers were formed and they entered the National League. ^[4]

Main article: Mildenhall Fen Tigers

Greyhound racing

Greyhound racing at Mildenhall Stadium c.1991

In August 1990, Dick Partridge approached Terry Waters regarding a return for speedway and the introduction of greyhound racing. A lease was agreed and the greyhound track was constructed along with improvements in the facilities including new concrete terracing and track lights. The hare was an 'Outside Sumner' and the sand that made the surface was the King's Lynn silica sand. Seventy-four kennels were constructed with a paddock and weighing room added in an area of the old speedway pits. After securing a licence from the National Greyhound Racing Club the first meeting took place on Saturday 21 September 1991. ^[5] An eight race card started with a 375 metres event that was won by Coppacabana a 3-1 shot trained by Mills in a time of 24.61 secs. ^[6]

The stadium suffered a two-month closure in the early part of 1992 before re-opening under new management headed by Denis Diffley. ^[7] In 1995 Terry Waters took over from Dick Partridge who suffered financial difficulties. ^[8]

One of the sports leading trainers Linda Jones from nearby Lakenheath attended the track regularly whilst establishing the Imperial Kennels. ^[9] Tuesday and Saturday night racing became regular nights with other race distances in addition to 375 being 550 & 700 metres.

Later the greyhound racing was then overseen by Richard Borthwick and Michael Glynn and new Racing Manager was Michael Hill. Mildenhall underwent changes again with distances being fine-tuned to 220, 375, 545, 700, 870 & 1025 metres on a circumference of 325m. Terry Waters took over as General Manager at the turn of the millennium ^[10] and in 2008 Dave and Ron Coventry took over ^[11] followed by Richard Borthwick.

Controversy and sale

In 2006, a couple bought a house close to Mildenhall Stadium where stock car racing and speedway have taken place since 1975, and began complaining about the noise. The couple took the stadium to court in 2014 and won resulting in the threat of closure for the stadium. ^[12] In between the track experienced a temporary suspension following the exit of promoter Carl Harris. ^[13] In 2016, the stadium was sold to Deane Wood of Spedeworth Motorsports. ^[14]

Greyhound racing closure and return

Greyhound racing was held every Tuesday and Friday night (all year round) but on 15 January 2018 it was announced that the racing would cease. With the ongoing problems experienced by the track, the majority of its biggest trainers left for Crayford Stadium, Henlow Stadium and Harlow Stadium, which resulted in racing only being held one night per week before the closure. ^[15] In 2020, Kevin Boothby (the Towcester promoter) announced the return of racing and renamed the stadium Suffolk Downs. ^[16] The first trial session took place on 12 January 2022. ^[17]

When racing returned the first meeting was held on 8 February 2022, with the primary race distance being 388 metres. ^[2] Mark Wallis joined the stadium training ranks during 2023 and won his 14th Greyhound Trainer of the Year title after recording 1591 points. ^[18]

On 30 July 2024, the stadium suffered a fire which caused significant damage to several areas. The building containing machinery and agricultural vehicles was destroyed and damage was caused to the bar area and offices. ^{[19] [20]}

Current track records

^[21]

Metres	Greyhound	Time	Date
220	Lots of Jolly	13.39	26 October 1983
388	Saffrons Dash [22]	23.55	13 June 2022
548	Luna Jezabelle	33.67	27 April 2023
716	Muxton Lottie	44.99	27 April 2023

Former track records

Extended content

Metres Greyhound Time Date 220 Pams Deema 13.28 14 August 2012 375 Some Kick 23.90 21 September 1991 375 Warning Sign 22.76 26 June 2012 375 Dunmurry Vixen 23.44 26 October 1991 375 Lots Of Jolly 23.10 11 July 1994 375 Flashy Beo 22.88 11 October 1996 388 Mister Eventful [23] 23.70 25 March 2022 545 Decoy Panther 33.90 12 December 1994 545 Lady Small Paws 33.76 26 February 2001 545 Much Approved 33.74 18 May 2004 545 Newtown Shannon 33.67 8 June 2007 545 Blackrose Jessie 33.60 19 August 2008 550 Disenchanted 35.04 26 October 1991 550 Cathys Hero 34.83 26 November 1991 550 Dunmurry Brandy 34.72 30 November 1991 700 Fortunate Man 46.04 17 December 1991 700 Janes Joy 45.72 17 December 1991 700 Fortunate Man 45.67 21 December 1991 700 Take A Flyer 44.90 31 October 1994 700 Trade Link 44.44 7 October 1999 700 Bubbly Capel 44.01 8 May 2012 870 Hillmount Jean 56.53 26 September 1993 870 Barwise Smiler 56.15 28 September 1998 1025 Dusty Image 67.49 1 November 1994

References

1. "Speedway". Spedeworth Motorsports.
2. "Suffolk Downs is up and running". Greyhound Star. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
3. "Race Nights". Mildenhall Stadium.
4. "Mildenhall Stadium". The National Speedway Museum.
5. "Closures and openings over the past 10 years, July 1993, page 18". Greyhound Star. 1993.
6. Barnes/Sellers, Julia/John (1992). Ladbrokes Greyhound Fact File, pages 71-72. Ringpress Books. ISBN   0-948955-22-8.
7. "Monthly Greyhound Star (Remember When 1992) August edition". Greyhound Star.
8. "Remember When - September 1995". Greyhound Star. 22 September 2018.
9. Fry, Paul (1995). The Official NGRC Greyhound Racing Yearbook, pages 222-223. Ringpress Books. ISBN   186054-010-4.
10. Hobbs, Jonathan (2007). Greyhound Annual 2008, page 191. Raceform. ISBN   978-1-905153-53-4.
11. "Remember When July". Greyhound Star. 28 July 2019.
12. "Mildenhall Stadium noise row: Owners lose Supreme Court case". BBC News. 23 July 2015.
13. "Greyhound Star (Remember When - January 2008)". Greyhound Star. 26 January 2019.
14. "Mildenhall is sold". Greyhound Star. 11 August 2016.
15. "Mildenhall Closure". Greyhound Star. 15 January 2018.
16. "Suffolk Downs granted GBGB licence". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
17. "Suffolk Downs first trial session". Greyhound Star. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
18. "Trainer of the Year final standings 2023". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
19. "Huge blaze at Mildenhall Stadium in West Row causes 'significant damage'". Suffolk News. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
20. "Services yet to find cause of stadium fire". BBC. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
21. "British Track Records as of January 2024". Greyhound Star. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
22. "Fastest of the Year". Greyhound Star. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
23. "Suffolk Downs, A2, 388m". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. Retrieved 14 April 2022.

52°22′08″N0°25′49″E / 52.36879°N 0.43027°E / 52.36879; 0.43027