Danny Rayment to be new Towcester Racing Manager

Rayment new Towcester RM

Towcester has announced Danny Rayment as its new Racing Manager.

Rayment joins the Northamptonshire venue as RM from next month and is delighted to be returning to the sport he loves, moving into the hotseat at the home of the Star Sports English Greyhound Derby as the latest in a number of key appointments at the venue which prepares to relaunch under new management.

“It’s great to be back in greyhound racing and I’m excited about the challenge ahead,” said Rayment, for many years the racing manager at Crayford.

“I was devastated when Crayford closed, as many people were, and it’s taken time to come to terms with that,” he revealed. “That said, greyhound racing never leaves you and, while I’ve had a couple of opportunities presented to me, Towcester is the right fit having spoken to the team there in recent weeks.

“It’s the home of the English Greyhound Derby and, while I know there’s a tender process going on for the 2026 staging, the team at Towcester are keen to maintain the relationship with the great race - and that’s exciting.

“I’ve kept in touch with a lot of people in the sport. My working life has largely been spent in greyhound racing from my days out of school pretty much at Catford, working on the bars and then in the racing office there, before moving to Crayford in 1997.

“I was originally assistant racing manager there, becoming deputy RM in late 2000, and then Crayford racing manager in 2006.

“Towcester is one of the sport’s flagship venues - and the ambition expressed by the management is to consolidate that. It already hosts a huge number of major Category One competitions and anyone who knows me knows how much I value the top end of the sport - albeit never forgetting the pyramid of racing across all grades.

“However, I was particularly proud to have revived the Gold Collar and staged it Crayford for many years - the same with the Guys & Dolls and the Cesarewitch. I look forward to working with James Chalkley (head of racing) and Scott Harvey (head of commercial) in making the best programme of races possible for Towcester.”

Richard Thomas, Towcester chief executive, said: “Getting someone of Danny’s experience and reputation is a fantastic boost for us all at Towcester.

“Danny’s name was constantly mentioned to myself and other members of the team as someone we should look to bring back into the sport - and we’re delighted to have done so as we prepare to relaunch Towcester next month.

“Greyhound racing is at the heart of what we’ll be doing, but there are other opportunities we are exploring to help maximise the potential of the site, and we will be engaging the local community and businesses on that in the coming weeks and months.”

Orchestrate formerly take over the racing at Towcester Racecourse from mid-November having agreed an initial ten-year lease deal with the Hesketh family, owners of the site.