Remember When - 24th June

Remember When

1973 Johnny Wood (Discretions-Pincano), a former minor open race stayer with Pam Heasman, wins his first race at Harold Park in Sydney. He later goes to stud and achieves some minor successes. Pic Johnny Wood with Susan Nicholson preparing to be shipped to Australia.

1967 Litter brothers Tric Trac and Spectre, who both walked off the track lame in the Derby semi finals, bounced back to finish first and second in the final for trainer Jim Hookway and owner Ned Pinson. Both dogs are immediately retired to stud. The consolation final, won 15 spots quicker than the main event, sees a 1-2 for Leicester trainer Geoff De Mulder. The meeting is not televised, unlike the previous year, but attendance is up by around 6,000 to 35,000.

2018 Despite having had a broken metatarsal, giving birth to a litter of pups and being a month off her fourth birthday, Ballyoak Petal wins the BGBF Sprint at Harlow.

1980 Ballarat Prince (Free Speech-Coaster) wins the Guinness 600 at Shelbourne Park in 33.54. Litter brother Hume Highway finishes fourth.

1972 Baton, winner of the Grand Prix in 1970 and runner-up in 1971, runs his last race at Walthamstow. He won 42 from 140 races and more than £3,000 in prizemoney. (Equiv of £143K today).

2001 Trainer’s wife Sian McKenna is taken to hospital with a serious bite wound following an accident at Reading. Mrs McKenna was attending to Oakville Prince who had broken his back and was in great distress when the incident occurred.

1990 Sunderland re-opens and switches to NGRC rules with Ross Searle as the racing manager and Dave Baldwin his assistant.

2015 Ex trainer Chris Mosdall is warned off by GBGB after being found guilty of doping greyhounds. The offences came to light during a BBC Panorama expose during which Mosdall is seen boasting about using travel sickness tablets containing the drug Cyclyzine to impair the performance of his dogs.

1960 Romford stage a very low class 840 metre marathon. In trap five is a bitch who has just completed clearing trials with a 30.19 run for 525 yards at Wembley. Her previous three outings were all hurdle solos. In the last of them, she had “checked badly hurdles” and clocked 33.10 for the White City jumps course. Such was the substandard quality of the Romford event though that the 60 pounder was only a 9-2 chance. Trained by unattached trainer Pratt, the blue brindle and white got home by 11 lengths in a new track record of 48.79. The bitch’s name was Sallys Gossip. If the name sounds familiar it is because you can find her on the bottom line of the pedigrees of: Patricia’s Hope, Ballybeg Prim, Mutts Silver, Pineapple Grand, Spiral Nikita, Barnfield On Air, Lenson Joker, Borna Best, Eye Onthe Storm, College Causeway. . . .you get the picture.

1991 A Romford owner bought a greyhound purely because he liked its name and so he could – as he did – phone the racing office and ask “Excuse me, is Bugs Bunny trialling today?”

2001 Puppy Hang On Cee dies in the Rye House kennels of heat stroke. Planning permission to update the ancient range was received the following day.

1984 Irish raider Dipmac, owned by Noel Ryan and Paschal Taggart, clocks the fastest qualifying heat of the Derby. The white and black defeats the heavily fancied Morans Beef in 29.34 for White City’s 500 metres. Other heat winners of interest: Westmead Milos (29.40), Back Garden (29.51) Brilliant Hope (29.55), Top Flash (29.58), Lauragh Shebeen (29.64), Rugged Mick (29.68), Game Ball (29.87), Hotsauce Mistake (future dam of Druids Johno-29.68), Powersville Jet (29.91) and Count Five (30.25). The list doesn’t include eventual winner Whisper Wishes who, as a 6-1 shot, is beaten by Amazing Man in 29.68.

2015 Ex trainer Chris Mosdall is warned off by GBGB after being found guilty of doping greyhounds. The offences came to light during a BBC Panorama expose during which Mosdall is seen boasting about using travel sickness tablets containing the drug Cyclyzine to impair the performance of his dogs.

1945 Rhynn Castle finishes second in the Derby having been eliminated in the semi final but allowed to run as reserve.

1993 Popular Irish handler Pa Fitzgerald is due to grade in his first graded runners at Oxford but changes his mind about being attached to the track.

2001 A Government report into veterinary charges finds that British vets are the most expensive in Europe often charging three times more for inoculations and drugs than their European counterparts.  The report recommends that it should be the owner’s prerogative to obtain drugs from sources other than vets who should charge no more than £2.50 for writing a prescription. However, many in the pharmaceutical trade are upset that the report does not recommend the reclassification of various prescription only drugs including flea sprays and worming tablets.

2018 Sunderland racing manager Micky Patterson is to leave the sport. His role will be taken by assistant Joe Frelford.

1987 The proposed sale of GRA to property investment company Priest Marrion for £53m is scuppered in the final stages. The decision of Harringay Council leader Bernie Grant to appeal the decision to allow Sainsbury’s to build a £10m supermarket on the site of the greyhound track, led to the purchasers dropping out.

1993 BAGS threaten to sue the bookmakers who fail to pay for the BAGS service (£517 p.a. provincial, £693 p.a. Greater London). The organisation reckon 20% of all betting shops are non-payers and almost all are member of the British Betting Office Association (BBOA), whose chairman Warwick Bartlett has regularly boasted his refusal to pay into the voluntary BGRF.

1951 The draw for the English Derby takes place as usual at the Savoy Hotel and was conducted by Sir Louis Greig KBE CVO, and president of the National Greyhound Racing Society, accompanied by the senior steward of the National Greyhound Racing Club, the Marquess of Carisbrooke GCB, GCVO. During the post draw lunch and speeches, the chairman of GRA, Francis S Gentle, criticises the Government’s ‘discriminatory’ 10% tax on greyhound totalisators. He reveals that for the previous year’s Derby Final night meeting alone, the Exchequer raked in £18,651 – equivalent to £891K at today’s values.

2004 Brian Clemenson wins his third consecutive trainer's championship meeting which was staged at Coventry. He finished seven points clear of John Mullins.

1995 Walthamstow cut 3% from their graded prize money.

1976 Independent Trowbridge begin racing under the guidance of promoter John Breddell.

1961 Ante post bookies were on form for the 1961 English Derby. The top two in the betting Oregon Prince (8-1) and Spider Hill (10) both made the final, which was won by one of the joint second favourites, Palms Printer (12-1). Making up the sextet were Winter Bell (150-1), Luxury Liner (40) and Clopook (100-1).  The winner had been entered in Shelbourne Sales the previous November but had failed to make his £400 reserve and was eventually bought by Plaistow greengrocer Ale Heale.

2007 BAGS announce two new names on the schedule for the remainder of 2007, Poole and Yarmouth. There will be a total of 1,890 fixtures, up 14.3% on 2006.

1996 Irish entry Mind Bender, trained by Colm McGrath but lodging with Nick Savva is withdrawn from the Derby by the stewards when they arrive at Westmead Kennels but are unable to locate the McGrath.

1933 Another cinema film featuring greyhounds is doing the rounds. Called Lucky Number it stars Gordon Harker, Joan Wyndham, Cliff Mollison. The crowd scenes are shot at Harringay and two of the greyhounds that star in the film are Dresden, who finished fifth to Mick The Miller in the 1930 Derby final and Doumergue who was second to Mick in a match race in 1931.

1976 Full NGRC track Preston switch to permit racing due to a lack of runners. They are the first full track to downgrade since the permit scheme was introduced three years earlier.

1988 GRA Chairman John Cearns rejects an offer from SIS who want to broadcast 64 races of the English Derby, including the final, into their 2,500 betting shops. The offer is £500.

2008 Betting exchange Betfair pledge £13,000 towards a new Dog-mobile which the Stow homing association hope to purchase. However the RGT refuse to contribute and the vehicle is never purchased.

2013 Betfair announce that they will no longer make voluntary contributions to the British Greyhound Racing Fund. They argue that since their main commercial competitors, the retail bookmakers, are operating from Gibraltar and thus avoiding paying tax the UK Government, they are at a commercial disadvantage. It is believed the move will save the company around £800,000 per year (equiv 

1958 Wimbledon trainer Paddy Fortune is killed after his car hits a pillar on Hammersmith Bridge. The Cork born trainer had won every classic including the Derby (Highland Rum-1939). He was primarily remembered though for a series of brilliant bitches that he trained, primarily Lizette (who won over £3,000 in prize money and one of his three English Oaks titles) and Sheevaun.