2019 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year

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2019 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
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2019 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 94th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom[1] and the 93rd year of greyhound racing in Ireland.[2]

The year marked an end of an era when the 94-year-old company the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) or more recently the GRA Acquisition came to an end.[3][4]

Major Winners
Award Name of Winner
2019 English Greyhound Derby Priceless Blake (Paul Hennessy)
2019 Irish Greyhound Derby Lenson Bocko (Graham Holland)
Greyhound Trainer of the Year Mark Wallis
UK Greyhound of the Year Ice On Fire (James Fenwick)
Irish Greyhound of the Year Killmacdonagh (Kieran Lynch)

Summary

All news was overshadowed by the demise of the once-great Greyhound Racing Association, more recently known as the GRA and then Clive Feltham's GRA Acquisition. The company had been declining since 2005, following the sale from Wembley plc to Risk Capital Partners and Galliard Homes and the inevitable resulted when the final two leases held at Belle Vue Stadium and Perry Barr Stadium were sold to the Arena Racing Company (ARC) in October.[3][4] The company had brought racing to the United Kingdom in 1925 and had been the primary promoter for 70 years.

Positive news was announced in January when major bookmakers agreed to pay a voluntary payment into the British Greyhound Racing Fund from their internet businesses. The agreement was signed by Ladbrokes Coral, William Hill, Betfred, bet365, Paddy Power Betfair and Sky Betting & Gaming and was expected to generate an extra £3 million for the fund, which goes directly towards greyhound welfare connected to Greyhound Board of Great Britain tracks in the UK. The move was welcomed by the industry who had been asking the bookmakers for assistance towards welfare funding for some time.[6][7]

The year ended badly with the news that housing planning permission for Belle Vue had been passed on 19 December.[8]

News

The media rights war raged on between SIS and ARC. Contracts had been signed by the tracks but some trainers were moving to tracks with SIS contracts that offered a better deal. The industry continued to wait to see long term consequences of the media rights battle.[9]

The media rights battle had already affected the open race schedule, the ARC owned Sunderland scrapped the William Hill Grand Prix and vastly reduced the prize money for the Classic. Another consequence of the media rights battle was the change to the racing schedule at tracks, which now generally consisted of daytime racing and a Saturday night fixture.

There was a double retirement during June with both the 2017 Greyhound of the Year King Elvis and 2017 Scottish Derby champion Dorotas Woo Hoo finishing their careers.[10] 2018 English Greyhound Derby champion Dorotas Wildcat was also retired after a gallant attempt to defend his title in the summer.

Ireland

Competitions

References

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