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Slough Stadium

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Slough Stadium
Map
LocationUxbridge Road, Slough, Berkshire
Coordinates51°30′29″N 0°34′46″W / 51.50806°N 0.57944°W / 51.50806; -0.57944
Opened1928
Closed1987

Slough Stadium originally known as the Dolphin Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium in Uxbridge Road, Slough, Berkshire.

Greyhound racing at Slough Stadium c.1970

Origins and opening

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George Bennett Sr. a resident and entrepreneur of Slough bought and sold a cinema in Chalvey before purchasing the Dolphin Hotel in Slough in May 1914. The hotel was next door to the Dolphin ground which had hosted cricket, bowls and football in the nineteenth century. Slough Town AFC took over the ground in 1890 and Bennett became their owner.[1]

Bennett decided that the ground required more activity and after watching the new sport of greyhound racing he made the decision to construct a greyhound track around the pitch. Work got underway in 1928 with the stadium taking shape on the east side of the Uxbridge Road and south of the Dolphin Hotel. The south part of the stadium would reach as far as the houses on Dolphin Road.[2]

The opening night was on 26 May 1928 the first ever race at the track.[3] Training kennels were established at the nearby Homelea Farm in Datchet.[4]

Pre war history

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In March 1929, the stadium was given the name the Dolphin Stadium.[5] Also in 1929, a greyhound called Idle Chief won 16 consecutive races and Bennett continued with his enterprises by introducing a training camp for boxers at his Dolphin hotel which included Tommy Farr, Ben Ford, Jack Doyle, Primo Carnera, Marcel Thil and Midget Wogan.

In 1936, Bennett sold the Dolphin Stadium to Clapton Stadium Company Limited who already controlled Clapton, South Shields and Warrington. H.Garland Wells who was joint vice president of the National Greyhound Racing Society and Clapton Stadium Ltd was instrumental in the company’s decision to purchase the track which they renamed Slough Greyhound Stadium.[6] However, it was still known as the Dolphin Stadium when used for boxing and football events.[7]

The track circumference was 400 yards and the course was described as a handy little track with bends that favour railers (greyhounds nearest the inside rail), a good run-up to the first bend means trap draw has little advantage. seeding did not exist which explains why trap draw had little advantage on a track favouring railers.[8]

There was a training establishment at Sunnymeads, Dedworth in Windsor used solely for Slough greyhounds and principal events included the Easter Cup, Whitsun Cup, Yuletide Cup, Home Counties Cup and Coronation Puppy Championship with the addition of a race called the Dolphin Trophy.[8]

1946-1960

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After the war the Buckinghamshire Cup was introduced and totalisator turnover in 1946 was £1,495,881.[9]

S.T.Lucas was the Racing Manager in the 1950s before handing over to John Collins in 1959, the Director of Racing for Clapton Stadium Ltd was E W Godfrey and he also handed over in 1959 to H J Richardson. E Luper and H Luper then took over as the new Managing Directors of the company.[6]

1960s

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In 1966 the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) purchased New Clapton Stadiums Ltd, the deal included Slough, Clapton, Reading, two training sites with 180 acres and an interest in West Ham Stadium. Under the GRA the trainers responsible for supplying the greyhounds to Slough were Jimmy Jowett, Bill Krailing, Paddy Pierce, Jim Barker, Ron Jeffrey and Jim Sherry, the latter three also supplied Reading. Racing took place on Tuesday and Saturday evenings.[6]

1970s

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The hare system was an 'Inside Sumner' and amenities included a steak bar, two buffet bars and four licensed bars. In 1971 Slough and Reading changed to the contract trainer system, a policy that many stadia had adopted and three years later in 1974 sister track Clapton closed resulting in the prestigious Classic the Scurry Gold Cup being transferred to Slough.[10]

The 1977 running of the Scurry ended with a three-way battle between two promising newcomers Wired To Moon and Cahurmore Speech and defending champion Xmas Holiday. Cahurmore Speech broke the Slough track record in the semi-finals before finishing runner up to Wired To Moon in the final with Xmas Holiday finishing third. On the way back to the Northaw kennels after the race Adam Jackson's finalist Fiano was killed in a vehicle accident.[10]

Trainer Ted Dickson won the first Classic race for the track after Greenfield Fox won the 1977 Laurels before winning the Pall Mall Stakes. Dickson also trained a fawn dog called Linacre who had four big wins in 1977, the Derby Consolation, Edinburgh Cup, Sussex Cup and Wembley Spring Cup. Dickson was rewarded by being named the Greyhound Trainer of the Year.[11]

1980s

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Yankee Express secured a hat-trick of Scurry titles in the early 1980s before Slough won the English Greyhound Derby with one of their greyhounds called Tico (trained by Arthur Hitch) in 1986.[12]

Closure

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In 1987 Slough became the fourth and last track of the 1966 deal to be sold by the GRA to developers. It closed on 21 March 1987 with the last race being won by Ted Dickson's Yellow Crest.[3][13][14]

The Scurry Gold Cup moved to Catford and the original Sunnymeads kennels are still used today but the stadium site is a Sainsbury's supermarket.

Competitions

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Scurry Gold Cup

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Buckinghamshire Cup

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Year Winner Trainer Time SP
1946 Glin Lad Paddy Fortune (Wimbledon) 27.03 4-6f
1947 Lightfooted Lad N Lloyd (Private) 27.06 11-10f
1948 Gatabawn Paddy McEllistrim (Wimbledon) 27.50 100-8
1949 Captured Dick Jack Harvey (Wembley) 26.95 5-2f
1950 Flamenco William Mills (Private) 27.21 6-1
1952 Wombourne Ted William Mills (Private) 39.66 100-6
1953 Parkroe Bob (dead-heat) Jack Young (Oxford) 26.94 11-4
1953 Romantic Crisis (dead-heat) Paddy McEvoy (Private) 26.94 5-2
1955 Tax Diablo Leslie Reynolds (Wembley) 26.78 4-6f
1956 Little Paddys Choice Jimmy Jowett (Clapton) 27.40 8-1
1957 Girlies Champ Jimmy Jowett (Clapton) 27.61 5-2
1958 The Gifts Champion Alf Forman (Park Royal) 26.98
1959 Corvette Bill Gigg (Private) 26.83 9-2
1960 Cassagh Monarch Reg Webb (Private) 26.02 4-1
1961 Angel Touch Jimmy Jowett (Clapton) 37.61
1962 Devilabetter Reg Webb (Private) 37.71
1963 Buckwheat Reg Webb -(Private) 37.17
1964 Ivy Hall King Paddy Keane (Clapton) 37.15 1-2f
1965 Luck Arrow II Peter Collett (Private) 37.28
1966 Woodlawn Barney O'Connor (Walthamstow) 37.10
1967 Loughnore Guest Jimmy Jowett (Clapton) 37.28
1968 Dicks Dilemma Gordon Hodson (White City) 37.72
1969 Jeannies Wonder John Perrin (Private) 37.00 6-4f
1970 Albany Grand Wally Ginzel (Private) 36.99 9-4
1971 Coset Fire 36.53
1972 Adamstown Fire Peter Hawkesley (Harringay) 36.37 11-4
1973 Ashgrove Tric 37.06
1974 Delroney Leader 37.14
1975 Houghton Girl Barbara Tompkins (Watford) 37.28
1976 Thade Is Out Vernon Ford (Private) 38.49 7-1
1977 Black Legend Ted Dickson (Slough) 37.87 4-6f
1978 Owners Guide Tony Jowett (Slough) 37.57
1979 Full Again 37.33
1980 Rikasso Pancho 30.51
1981 Westmead Seal Natalie Savva (Private) 39.95 4-1
1982 Self Raising C Buzzard (Private) 39.29 12-1
1986 Mineola Athena Arthur Hitch (Slough) 39.27 8-1

Track records

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Pre-metric

Distance
yards
Greyhound Time Date Notes
275 Oola Rattler 15.51 1946
460 Sallys Chat 25.70 07.11.1961
460 Shamrock Clipper 25.62 17.05.1966
460 Tipper 25.60 05.1969
475 Parish Model 26.71 1947
640 Jeannies Wonder 36.63 1970
650 Lucky Arrow II 36.92 07.09.1965
650 Lielow 29.03.1966
650 Quails Glory 36.42 08.09.1970
675 Diamond Jim 39.42 1946
860 Miss Elegant 49.66 16.07.1963
860 Hiver Whitenose 49.58 1970
880 Boreen Brandy 22.03.1966
880 Gladness 50.97 05.03.1968
460 H Rorys Pleasure 26.57 21.03.1961
475 H Cadet Captain 27.69 1946

Post-metric

Distance
metres
Greyhound Time Date Notes
442 Northwood Double 26.74 1978
442 Rodeen Jet 26.62 19.06.1985
442 Cahurmore Speech 1977 Scurry Gold Cup Semi-finals
593 Owners Guide 37.20 1979
807 Westpark Putter 52.13 1978

References

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  1. ^ "Slough Town FC Club History". Rebels Online.
  2. ^ "OS Plan 1955". old-maps.co.uk.
  3. ^ a b Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File. Ringpress Books. ISBN 0-948955-15-5.
  4. ^ Martin/Jah Aye, Stanley/Nana (2011). Reconstruction Art. Joy Media. ISBN 0955990467.
  5. ^ "Slough". Buckinghamshire Advertiser. 15 May 1929. Retrieved 17 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ a b c Genders, Roy (1981). The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN 07207-1106-1.
  7. ^ "Jack must keep busy fighting for style". Daily Mirror. 27 June 1949. Retrieved 17 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ a b Tarter, P Howard (1949). Greyhound Racing Encyclopedia. Fleet Publishing Company Ltd.
  9. ^ Particulars of Licensed tracks, table 1 Licensed Dog Racecourses. Licensing Authorities. 1946.
  10. ^ a b Genders, Roy (1990). NGRC book of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN 0-7207-1804-X.
  11. ^ Hobbs, Jonathan (2003). Greyhound Annual 2004. Raceform. ISBN 1-904317-21-9.
  12. ^ Dack, Barrie (1990). Greyhound Derby, the first 60 years. Ringpress Books. pp. 188–192. ISBN 0-948955-36-8.
  13. ^ "Monthly Greyhound Star (Remember When) March edition". Greyhound Star. 2012.
  14. ^ "Closures and openings over the past 10 years, July 1993, page 18". Greyhound Star. 1993.