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WITH attendances reaching four million a year, an estimated £2.9 billion wagered on and off course, £11 million in prize money and customer facilities envied by the rest of the entertainment industry, greyhound racing has seen a modern day transformation – a ‘Night at the Dogs’ has become something to do.
Quality restaurants, corporate entertainment facilities, private boxes and clean, well run bars is the face of greyhound racing in the new millennium. The sport now attracts a wide ranging clientele searching for creature comforts and the thrill of the race. Greyhound Racing has it all.
For many years, the sport was seen as the poor relation to horse racing, but those times have changed and visitors to tracks up and down the country are likely to be rubbing shoulders with film stars and sports personalities.
But the real stars are out on the track, night in and night out. Six sleek and beautiful greyhounds make up each race, and the speed at which they travel is quite breathtaking - they cover 500 metres in roughly 30 seconds and, with races taking place about every 15 minutes at most tracks, it’s non-stop action. Trying to pick the winner just adds fun to the evening.
The sport in began at Belle Vue, Manchester, in 1926 and became hugely popular as it spread the length and breadth of the British Isles. Royalty, Lords and Ladies were bitten by the bug as much as anyone and it was much in vogue to be seen greyhound racing in the days leading up to the second world war.
The sport went through a lean period in the late 1960s and 70s. But the tracks that invested in facilities for the public survived and, in the 1990s, the sport went through an amazing resurgence. A new generation is now enjoying the thrills that greyhound racing offers.
The greyhounds themselves are impressively athletic. One of the oldest breeds known to man, they can be traced back to ancient Egypt. It is not commonly known that the greyhound is the only breed of dog to be mentioned in the Bible.
They have been much revered throughout history and, in Britain for hundreds of years, it was a crime for a peasant to own such an animal – a greyhound was solely the property of the aristocracy. The modern day greyhound is the perfect racing machine, their athletic frame propelled by huge muscled hind legs.
Greyhounds are often seen as being vicious animals because they wear muzzles when racing. That could not be further from the truth.
Greyhounds chase by sight and are jealous if one of their rivals reaches the quarry first - the muzzle is simply to stop any injury should a greyhound, on a very rare occasion, decide to take it out on a rival that reaches the lure first.
Away from the racetrack, greyhounds are the most docile of creatures, well natured and friendly. They like nothing more than to stretch out and fall asleep on their beds, reserving their energies for when it really matters.
You will hardly believe that when you visit a greyhound stadium. Stand next to the racetrack itself and see for yourself just how fast these beautiful creatures are in action.
Newcomers to the sport are as amazed by that as much as they are by how great a night out greyhound racing can be.
But don’t take our word for it, give it a try for yourself.
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