Cork Greyhound Stadium

Cork Greyhound Stadium

Location	Western Road, Cork, Munster
Coordinates	51°53′35.1″N8°30′00.3″W / 51.893083°N 8.500083°W / 51.893083; -8.500083
Opened	1936
Closed	2000

Cork Greyhound Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium on Western Road in Cork, Munster. ^[1] It is not to be confused with Curraheen Park.

Origins

The first greyhound track in Cork was known as The Show Grounds Greyhound Track and ran from 1928 to 1935 but closed on 20 September 1935 following the decision to relocate to a site nearer the city centre. The site chosen was between Western Road and the north bank of the River Lee near the Wellington Bridge. ^[2]

Opening

Less than one year after the closure of the circuit at the Showgrounds the second Cork track opened for business on 13 June 1936. Pat O’Brien was installed as the manager. ^[3]

History

The Irish provincial tracks pressured the Irish Coursing Club for the right to stage Ireland's premier event, the Irish Greyhound Derby which had been exclusively run in Dublin. During a vote in 1939 the club agreed to let Limerick host the race followed by Cork in 1941 but due to the Foot-and-mouth disease in 1941 racing had ceased and when the ban on racing was lifted Cork unfortunately ruled themselves out from being able to host the event at such short notice. ^{[4] [5]}

In 1942 the chance to hold the Derby was taken despite the fact that Cork could not match the prize money offered by the Dublin tracks. Record crowds attended the event won by Uacterlainn Riac. Cork never hosted the Derby again but in 1944 the Laurels was inaugurated at the track over 500 yards and would soon become a classic race. ^[6]

The Oaks was held at the track twice in 1939 and 1943 and a competition originally named the Pegasus Cup was also introduced. The Pegasus Cup was renamed the Perpetual Challenge Trophy and later the Guinness Trophy. The Bord na gCon installed a new totalisator system at four tracks including Cork in 1960 and one year later the Laurels switched to the slightly longer distance of 525 yards. Laurels winners included Spanish Chestnut in 1949 and 1950 and the legendary Spanish Battleship took the competition in 1955. Cork bookmakers Liam Cashman sponsored the event for many years. ^[3]

The Bord na gCon purchased the stadium in 1969 safeguarding the future of the track from redevelopment. The circumference of the track was 445 yards which consisted of race distances of 300, 310, 500, 525, 550, 70, 745 and 525 hurdles.^{[ citation needed ]}

Closure

By the late 1980s the facilities were struggling to cope with the large Cork attendances and the Bord na gCon sold the site of the greyhound track in Cork in 1996 and purchased a green-field site in Curraheen on the western fringes of the city with the intention of building a brand new facility there. It took until the year 2000 for the Bord na gCon plans of a new track in Cork to come to fruition. The Western Road venue was redeveloped into the Western Gateway Building (science building of the University College Cork). ^[7]

Competitions

• Irish Laurels
• Oaks
• Irish Greyhound Derby

Track records

Yards	Greyhound	Time	Date	Notes
300	Lucky Blunder	16.60	29 July 1967
300	Bunny Browney	16.50	6 September 1973
300	Hidden Fortune	16.50	8 September 1973
300	Moonshine Again	16.45	13 May 1978
300	Ballygarvan What	=16.45	1981
300	Odell Supreme	16.43	30 August 1986
300	Sarahs Moth	16.35	29 September 1989
300	Moyra Road	16.00	8 November 1995
310	Blondsman	17.50	1950
310	Odd Crest	17.20	8 August 1975
500	Double Shadow	28.82	1950
500	Spanish Battleship [8]	28.30	29 August 1955	Irish Laurels first round
500	Last Lap	28.15	1960
500	Prince of Bermuda	27.95	12 September 1956
525	Clogher Cross	29.96	1950
525	Socks On [9]	29.64	May 1957
525	Kilcaskin Kern [9]	29.45	May 1957
525	Dark Baby	29.40	1962
525	Tanyard Heather	29.20	1964
525	Wandering Sailor	=29.20	1970
525	Ivy Hall Flash	29.10	29 October 1971
525	Kilbracken Style	29.10	8 September 1973
525	Allemaine	29.05	30 October 1978
525	Knockrour Slave	29.00	30 August 1980
525	Parkdown Jet	=29.00	1981
525	The Stranger [10]	28.95	4 September 1982	Irish Laurels Final
525	Airmount Grand [11]	28.94	3 July 1989	Irish Laurels 2nd round
525	Airmount Grand [11]	28.89	8 July 1989	Irish Laurels semi final
525	Airmount Grand	28.82	15 July 1989	Irish Laurels Final
525	Adraville Bridge	28.78	14 July 1990	Irish Laurels Final
525	Live Contender	28.50	17 November 1990
550	Gorriencoona Border	31.40	Pre 1949
550	Spanish Lad	31.00	7 October 1949
700	Muskerry Cream	40.85	1950
700	Lucky Break	40.00	30 May 1964
700	Anner Duke	39.80	15 May 1982
700	Kilcommon Cross	39.70	14 July 1990
745	Pure Hand	43.00	19 May 1962
745	Wings of the Morning	=43.00	23 June 1962
745	Dempseys Glory	42.95	15 September 1973
745	Experience	42.80	5 September 1981
525 H	Deputy Lieutenant	30.74	1950
525 H	Ashgrove Look	30.15	11 July 1966
525 H	Race Riot	29.75	7 July 1973

References

1. Genders, Roy (1975). The Greyhound and Racing Greyhound. Page Brothers (Norwich). ISBN   0-85020-0474.
2. "Cork". Irish maps. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
3. Comyn, John. 50 Years of Greyhound Racing in Ireland. Aherlow Publishers Ltd.
4. Fortune, Michael. Irish Greyhound Derby 1932-1981. Victory Irish Promotions Ltd.
5. Fortune, Michael. The 75 Years History of the Irish Greyhound Derby. Irish Greyhound Review. ISSN   0332-3536.
6. Genders, Roy (1981). The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN   07207-1106-1.
7. Hobbs, Jonathan (2002). Greyhound Annual 2003. Raceform. ISBN   1-904317-07-3.
8. "Spanish Bbattleship's new record". Wicklow People. 3 September 1955. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archives.
9. "REMEMBER WHEN: MAY". Greyhound Star. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
10. "Monthly Greyhound Star (Remember When 1982) September edition". Greyhound Star.
11. "Airmount to win Laurels". Evening Herald. 15 July 1989. p. 34 – via British Newspaper Archives.