Greyhound racing and their tracks have been around in one form or another since the 18th century. It was originally known as “coursing” and saw dogs chase after a live animal such as a rabbit or a hare. In 1876 a much more humane race was created when the dogs were trained to run after an artificial hare. The first official racetrack followed in 1919 and was in Emeryville, California. Seven years later the first oval track and artificial hare were brought to the UK and the first British Greyhound race meeting took place at the Belle Vue Stadium in 1926. Within a year there were forty track operating across the UK. In 1946 there were 34 million paying spectators. This lead to a huge rise in the amount of greyhound betting which continues today. We look at the most popular greyhound competitions in the world.
Australia
If you ask any Australian they will tell you that the best greyhound racing us done “Down Under”. With 65 racing venues across this vast country it also plays host to the world’s richest race, The Melbourne Cup. Not to be confused with the horse race of the same name this is possibly the world’s biggest greyhound event. The total prize money awarded to the winner is A$350,000. The big race takes place at Sandown Park, in November.
The Sandown Cup, previously known as the Wollamai Cup, is the end point of three weeks racing at Sandown Park. This race features the fastest stayers and sprinters in the country. This race is work A$250,000.
A hot A$250,000 goes to the winner of the Association Cup which is held at Wentworth Park in April each year. This race is only open to Group One greyhounds who run over 720m. The record for this race is still held by Fernando Bale who completed the race in a lightening fast 29.48 seconds and is considered the greatest Australian greyhound to grace the tracks.
British Isles
As the home of greyhound racing there are far more prestigious events held here than anywhere else. The English Greyhound Derby is by far the most prestigious dog racing event in the world. It takes place in June or July and the prize money for this race tops £175,000. This race started in 1927 and was originally run at Wimbledon across 480 metres. It now takes place at Towcester and is ran over 500 metres.
Up in Scotland, The Scottish Greyhound Derby, boasts a prize of over £20,000 for the winner and is the biggest race in the Scottish racing calendar. It is run over 480m at Shawfield Stadium. This race takes place in April and has been taking place since 1928. Many of the Greyhounds will go on to contest the English Greyhound Derby.
The Irish Greyhound Derby is sponsored by Boyle Sports and have a total prize offering of over €240,000. This race has been taking place since 1928 with the first race taking place at Harold’s Cross. It’s new home is Shelbourne Park in South Dublin. It takes place over 550 yards and the winner takes the 125,000 lions share of the pot.
The last race we will look at is the Select Stakes which takes place at the Nottingham Greyhound Stadium. This race was originally held at Wembley until 1996 when Nottingham took over. The Select Stakes is one of the most loved meets in English racing. The winner takes home a decent reward of £7500 for the race that usually takes place in July.