Remember when.....

1996

locally trained and bred blue murlen wins the 50th East Anglian derby at Yarmouth

The Gary Harding trained blue who had won the £3000 Tom Hines memorial and stylefield law puppy stakes earlier in the year clocked his fastest ever run over the trip with a 28.10 run in the final the following year he went on to win the arc in walthamstow and the blue riband in wembley

1992

Guideless joe breaks the national record for 400 yds in reading 2 months later he wins the Irish derby in shelbourne park

1994

Northern Ireland gets a new track with the opening of ballyskeagh,near Belfast over 2000 people turn out for the first nights racing and see carloway dancer win the first race

1930

Tralee hold their first meeting at Oakview park in front of a large crowd despite there being a counter attraction in town with the arrival of duffys circus!!!

The first race on the card is won by F O'Connors even money favourite cockatoo (loafer x coleen oge) by half a lengths in 31.77

Remember when.....

2000

Droopys Vieri (pictured) becomes the first British trained winner of the Irish puppy derby

Paul Youngs dog starts 4/6 fav in the final beating watch the market by 5 lengths in 28.36 Earlier in the event the son of top honcho had set an Irish national record of 28.20 in the heats

1990

Racing ceases at dungannon when the grandstand is burnt down.

Initial suggestions of an electrical fault are put into doubt when the Animal Liberation Front take responsibility

2004

Dairyland sue who only scraped into the select stakes as a reserve was the surprise 25/1 winner;whats more was that her winning time of 29.74 was the fastest ever recorded in the race,sadly the track record holder bell legend broke a hock in the same race and was retired

1999

Brough park runner shock absorber was forced to make his ngrc debut in an open race ,although he had easily achieved grading time he hadn't won a trial and so under the rules couldn't be graded

Remember when....

1994

Greenpark fox (pictured) is put to sleep aged seven and a half suffering from lung cancer.

In the same week breeders are talking about one of his outstanding offspring the 28.64 kasco unraced winner Come on ranger

2006

Sky sports presenter and football pundit Gary Newbon tips Birmingham to beat Liverpool in the nights F.A cup match.... actual score Liverpool 7 Birmingham 0

1992

Paddy Keane widely acknowledged as one of the greatest trainers of all times,died from a massive heart attack at his home in kildare his winners include English (faithfull hope) and Irish (pampered rover) derby winners He also formed what was reckoned to be the greatest collection of track trainers ever assembled during his days at clapton where he trained along side Jimmy Jowet,Phil Rees,Paddy Mc evoy,Adam Jackson,John Bassett and Stan Gudgin

1969

Irish stud keepers threaten to boycott the stud book when a new scale of fees are introduced.They include a £10 registration fee for the dogs and a £1 for every mating

remember when....

1992

Dempsey duke (pictured) is retired to stud after rupturing a gracilis muscle in the derby second round owned by Paul Harris son of "chopper" and trained by terry kibble,duke won the Romford puppy cup,east anglian derby,Reading masters and the blue riband his two track records (Wembley 490 mtrs and Yarmouth 462 mtr) have never been bettered

His most notable son was staplers jo

1977

The Tipperary cup at Thurles has attracted Ireland's best 525 yard open racers for the 72 runner event Bord Na Gon have contributed £548 towards the winners prize of £1100 in the final Michael Barret from Tipperary owners of Lindas champion sees his black flying machine easily win the race in 29.44

This was the first part of big race double for the dog who later the following month won the Irish derby

2000

Mountleader peer wins a high quality champion stakes final at shelbourne park Christy O' Callaghans brindle 6/1 chance was never headed after a flying start six clear at one stage he held on to win by two lengths in 30.58

2003

Former champion trainer and breeder Joe Cobbold dies aged 76,the Suffolk carrot farmer won the 1981 trainers championship thanks to the efforts of mainly home bred stock the stars include echo spark(the laurels) decoy ranger (guineas and greyhound of the year) decoy boom (tv trophy,ike morris stakes,scottish marathon,stow marathon and the east midlands marathon)

remember when....

1994

following a brilliant 28.45 trial around hall green tony meeks recently arrived young Irish import moral standards (pictured) is the subject of a hefty ante post gamble for the 94 English derby
A rush of money see the dog who was first backed at 400/1 then again at 66/1 now as low as 14/1
He later goes on to justify the support with a flawless performance in the final

1977


Dave drinkwater one of the country's leading open race trainers is involved in a fracas with gra vet Bruce Prole in the white city paddock.
The incident follows a sprint open race where drinkwaters gin and jass led up derby winner mutts silver before checking wide at the bend.
The trainer accused the track of pulling the hare to allow mutts silver to win.
Drinkwater then removed his other star performer instant gambler from the track kennels before he was due to contest and open on the same night
following the race drinkwater issued a £20000 a side challenge to mutts silver owners
the match never takes place as the northants based trainer loses his licence

1960

Owner Mick Bourke decides to retire springvalley grand to stud after the dog completed the irish produce stakes/easter cup double
The most popular dog in Irish racing attracted the biggest crowd ever seen at clonmel track
Interestingly the dog was sold at six weeks to paddy dunphy (of the grand prefix) but dunphy changed his mind and took a littler brother instead when he was told that springvalley was blind in one eye

remember when....

2000

Liam mccormacks moyne rebel broke the thurles track record for the third time when winning the produce stakes final.His seven length win in 28.80 meant he had taken 22 spots off his previous best(pictured moyne rebel)

1997

Droopys Paul is top lot at walthamstow sales as he makes 5900 guineas,he goes on to win 34 opens including 3 major finals. Also sold on the day was casheen sleeper who made 2600 guineas and goes on to reach the English and Irish oaks finals

2003

Top open racer top general is stolen following a burglary on trainer Graham Calverts home and kennel the dog is recovered a few days later

1990

Ernie Gaskin junior is taken to hospital following a knife attack. The incident occurred after a boxer dog being escorted by a young girl attacked greyhounds being walked by the head lad. The girl was admonished by the gaskin,however the girls father made his way to the kennel and attacked Gaskin causing stomach and head injuries he was later charged with grievous bodily harm

remember when.....

1999

Derby winner toms the best sires his first ever winner in a graded race at poole-the 15 month old hes nobodys fool wins an a6, Deborah Walker's blue dog eventually goes on to win the produce stakes at hall green

1986

The laurels final at cork worth £7750 ire to the winner goes for the first time to a woman trainer,Ann Wade of cashel drawn in trap 1 big oran (oran jack x big deposit) has a clear run coming home by four lengths in 29.78 for the 525 classic

1996

Bord na gCon agree to pay the prize money to the produce stake finalists after banks bounce the cheques issued by promoter Alan Singleton

1990

Wont retreat wins the northumberland gold cup invitation (£1000) but is disqualified for fighting on the run in

remember when.....

1927 dec 10th

wembley hold their first meeting before a crowd of 70,000 people.With no tote in the early days there were 300 bookmakers in attendance.

The first race the empire stakes over 525 was won by mrs l allcott's "spin" the 5/4 jolly

1997 stud dog dempsey duke breaks a leg and is put down after chasing a cat that had come onto trainer bert hills property

1976 when four races are televised live from harringay on a Saturday afternoon the tv audience is estimated to be over 5 million

1989 Ireland's national newspapers carried front page stories about a race fixing device discovered at harolds cross situated in the sprint starting traps the device was capable of inflicting an electric shock on dogs placed in traps 2,3,4,5,6 the device was activated by remote control

Nobody was ever apprehended or charged over the incident

remember when......

1972 august 12th after breaking a hock in last years derby consolation final clohast rebel returns to white city in a 725 yd open where in a use full field including westmead county,rebel leads from the third and wins easily by 8 3/4 lengths in 40.56

1992 local peterborough grader henrys carnation set a new 605 yds track record of 37.45 when winning by 11 lengths and finding 80 spots on his previous best

1986 lodge prince who set a track record of 28.34 for the 480 metres at wimbledon during the derby has set another record.this time its in the consolation final of the Irish champion stakes ove 550 yards at shelbourne park when he skates up in 30.03

1999 phantom flash dies of a heart attack aged 11 at Kerry hill kennels in Kerry,bred by nick savva the son of flashy sir and westmead seal won the 1990 sussex cup,produce stakes and Anglo Irish. following a fall out between trainer and owner Dave hawley the dog joined patsy byrne and in 1991 landed the Scottish derby by six lengths his career was ended by injury in the quarter finals of the English derby flash went on to throw some brilliant dogs including the great spiral nikita,tina marina and the brilliant brood blonde returns(picture of phantom flash)