# 1971 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year

The 1971 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 45th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

## Roll of honour

Major Winners :
| Award | Name of Winner |
| 1971 English Greyhound Derby | Dolores Rocket |
| 1971 Irish Greyhound Derby | Sole Aim |
| 1971 Scottish Greyhound Derby | Not held |
| 1971 Welsh Greyhound Derby | Spectres Dream |
| Greyhound Trainer of the Year | Herbert White |
| Greyhound of the Year | Dolores Rocket |
| Irish Greyhound of the Year | Ivy Hall Flash |

## Summary

The annual National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) returns were released, with totalisator turnover at £56,188,971 and attendances recorded at 7,119,398 from 5808 meetings.
Dolores Rocket was Greyhound of the Year after winning the English Greyhound Derby at White City and St Leger at Wembley. Her performances shone through during a difficult year that saw the closure of four tracks. The tracks were Kings Heath Stadium, which had only just recently been purchased by the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) under their GRA Property Trust, Charlton Stadium (also GRA), the City Stadium, Norwich and Houghton Stadium in Durham.

## Tracks

Hendon was the first track to declare decimal dividends and Milton Keynes (known as Bletchley or the Groveway) switched from independent status to full NGRC status.

## Competitions

Following the closure of Charlton, three events came to an end. The Olympic would return in 1979 at Brighton and the Greenwich Cup was moved to Catford but the Cloth of Gold was discontinued. The Welsh Greyhound Derby at Cardiff Arms Park and the Grand Prix at Walthamstow were given the overdue status of being an official classic status competition, by the NGRC.
The Eclipse was switched to Hall Green for a two-year period.
Sherrys Prince successfully defended his Grand National, breaking the track record twice, first recording 29.26 seconds in the heats and then 29.20 in the semi-finals. The only other greyhounds that had achieved double Grand National glory were Juvenile Classic (1940) and Blossom of Annagura (1950). Dolores Rocket won the Spring Cup over 700 yards at Wimbledon and set a track record at Crayford before victory in the Wembley Spring Cup.
Don't Gambol won a second successive Scurry Gold Cup at Clapton and in the year ending annual Duke of Edinburgh Cup, Leeds provided a shock by reaching the final and beating Clapton to lift the trophy.

## News

A change in the betting laws allowed tracks to hold an extra 26 race meetings per year. Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium was the latest track to change to a contract trainer system, which led to Henry Parson's 33-year training career coming to an end after he joined the racing office. Slough and Reading followed suit soon after. Another trainer Stan Gray also retired after 35 years at Southend and Frank Melville left Rochester Stadium for Harringay Stadium, Melville was replaced by Jimmy Keane.
The demise of the GRA Kings Heath Stadium kennels in addition to the demolition of the Hall Green kennels, meant that the two remaining Birmingham GRA kennel trainers, Eric O'Connor and Peter Harding, were relocated to Powderhall. The Edinburgh track also brought in contract trainers as well (some from Kings Heath). Hall Green Racing Manager Sid Wood moved to Belle Vue Stadium and Bob Rowe (son of Leicester Racing Manager John Rowe) filled the position at Hall Green.
The experiment by GRA to introduce eight dog races continued with trials at Harringay and races at Belle Vue and White City Stadium (Manchester). The Northern Flat took place as an eight dog competition, the first major event to do so. Trainers were also allowed to seed their greyhounds wide for the first time.

## Ireland

In Ireland the Bord na gCon introduced drug testing for the first time. Sole Aim was a rare English winner of the 1971 Irish Greyhound Derby which featured one of strongest entries for years.
The Bord na gCon introduced drugs testing for the first time and experiment with the procedures at Shelbourne Park.
Blissful Pride trained by Leslie Mcnair wins his 18th race from 19 starts following victory in the Anglo-Irish International at White City. The Irish star also won the Irish Oaks.

## Principal UK races

Grand National, White City (April 17 525y h, £500) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Sherrys Prince | Colin West | 1-3f | 29.22 | 6 |
| 2nd | Afore You Go | Randy Singleton | 4-1 | 29.32 | 3 |
| 3rd | Adamstown Valley | Joe Pickering | 9-1 | 29.72 | 5 |
| 4th | Faythe Man | | 16-1 | 30.20 | 1 |
| 5th | Yankalife | | 50-1 | 30.28 | 4 |
| 6th | Rogley Sundown | Joe Pickering | 50-1 | 30.40 | 2 |
Oaks, Harringay (May 14, 525y, £1,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Short Cake | David Geggus | 5-1 | 28.98 | 4 |
| 2nd | Leap And Run | John Bassett | 7-1 | 29.01 | 6 |
| 3rd | Drive On | Tom Johnston Jr. | 5-1 | 29.19 | 3 |
| 4th | Miss Finch | | 10-3 | 29.23 | 2 |
| 5th | Wee Garryduff | Vicky Holloway | 6-1 | 29.35 | 1 |
| 6th | Pallas Daisy | Bill Adams | 6-4f | 29.49 | 5 |
Gold Collar, Catford (May 15, 570y, £1,500) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Down Your Way | Freddie Warrell | 5-2 | 33.10 | 4 |
| 2nd | Spectre Jockey | David Power | 2-1f | 33.22 | 3 |
| 3rd | Puff Pastry | Sid Ryall | 7-1 | 33.66 | 5 |
| 4th | Spotted Rory | Paddy McEllistrim | 9-4 | 34.00 | 6 |
| 5th | Michaels Bar | Phil Rees Sr. | 16-1 | 34.42 | 1 |
| 6th | Mind Out | | 25-1 | 34.66 | 2 |
The Grand Prix, Walthamstow (May 25, 600y, £1,500) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Breach's Buzzard | Colin McNally | 4-5f | 40.00 | 5 |
| 2nd | Baton | Jack Durkin | 8-1 | 40.24 | 6 |
| 3rd | Commutering | Frank Melville | 5-1 | 40.36 | 4 |
| 4th | Keen Rebel | | 4-1 | 40.48 | 1 |
| 5th | Breachs Buster | Reg Young | 12-1 | 40.64 | 2 |
| 6th | Step Out | | 20-1 | 41.04 | 3 |
Welsh Derby, Arms Park (Jul 3, 525y £755) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Spectres Dream | Hugo Spencer | 16-1 | 29.22 | 4 |
| 2nd | Royal Reward | | 7-1 | 29.38 | 6 |
| 3rd | Micks Pride | Bob Burls | 9-4 | 30.02 | 1 |
| 4th | Keen Santa | | 16-1 | 30.14 | 5 |
| 5th | Mona Movealong | George Curtis | 10-1 | 30.20 | 2 |
| 6th | King Lester | Joe Pickering | 4-5f | 30.68 | 3 |
Scurry Gold Cup, Clapton (Jul 10, 400y £1,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Don't Gambol | Paddy McEvoy | 4-11f | 22.73 | 5 |
| 2nd | One Lost Day | Paddy McEvoy | 11-2 | 22.87 | 2 |
| 3rd | Banogue Tom | Pam Heasman | 33-1 | 23.21 | 4 |
| 4th | Kinloch Jewel | Jim Hookway | 33-1 | 23.31 | 1 |
| 5th | Idle Thought | | 3-1 | 23.32 | 3 |
| 6th | Alluvion | Bill Kelly | 20-1 | 23.40 | 6 |
St Leger, Wembley (Aug 23, 700y, £1,500) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Dolores Rocket | Herbert White | 1-2f | 40.03 | 1 |
| 2nd | Spectre Jockey | David Power | 8-1 | 40.15 | 4 |
| 3rd | Shyan Darling | Miss M.Casey | 4-1 | 40.39 | 6 |
| 4th | Laura Gay | Barbara Brockhouse | 25-1 | 40.49 | 2 |
| 5th | Knock Off | Harry Bamford | 5-1 | 40.65 | 3 |
| 6th | Todos Kingpin | Jack Durkin | 40-1 | 40.97 | 5 |
Laurels, Wimbledon (Sep 10, 500y, £5,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Black Andrew | Randy Singleton | 11-2 | 27.96 | 2 |
| 2nd | Spectres Dream | Hugo Spencer | 25-1 | 28.10 | 3 |
| 3rd | Eleventh Wonder | | 6-1 | 28.18 | 6 |
| 4th | Supreme Fun | Sid Ryall | 5-4f | 28.20 | 5 |
| 5th | Sandy Desert | Paddy McEvoy | 10-1 | 00.00 | 4 |
| 6th | Dactars Speed | Stan Martin | 9-4 | 00.00 | 1 |
Cesarewitch, West Ham (Oct 1, 600y, £1,500) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Whisper Billy | Charlie Coyle | 50-1 | 33.45 | 1 |
| 2nd | Rosemount Gunner | Bob Burls | 33-1 | 33.48 | 2 |
| 3rd | Shyan Darling | Dave Geggus | 8-1 | 33.56 | 4 |
| 4th | Merry Colonel | Tom Johnston Jr. | 8-1 | 33.64 | 5 |
| 5th | Supreme Fun | Sid Ryall | 6-4f | 33.65 | 6 |
| 6th | Dolores Rocket | Herbert White | 11-10f | 34.05 | 3 |

## Totalisator returns

Extended content :
The totalisator returns declared to the licensing authorities for the year 1971 are listed below.
Stadium
Turnover £
London (White City)6,287,878
London (Wimbledon)3,768,449
London (Harringay)3,574,423
London (Walthamstow)2,932,233
London (Wembley)2,560,469
London (Catford)2,301,796
Manchester (Belle Vue)1,904,347
London (Clapton)1,720,176
Romford1,700,672
London (West Ham)1,674,667
Edinburgh (Powderhall)1,517,717
Birmingham (Hall Green)1,362,277
Brighton & Hove1,265,479
Manchester (White City)1,200,428
Birmingham (Perry Barr, old)1,113,114
Newcastle (Brough Park)1,112,671
Crayford & Bexleyheath1,096,819
Glasgow (Shawfield)967,230
Stadium
Turnover £
Slough953,856
Leeds (Elland Road)908,150
Southend-on-Sea895,601
London (Charlton)847,403
Wolverhampton (Monmore)814,167
Sheffield (Owlerton)808,247
London (Hackney)732,880
Bristol (Eastville)700,500
London (Hendon)675,692
Gloucester & Cheltenham674,521
Newcastle (Gosforth)623,757
Glasgow (White City)621,898
Manchester (Salford)589,134
Willenhall572,990
Derby541,628
Cardiff (Arms Park)525,511
Rochester & Chatham462,786
Poole458,512
Stadium
Turnover £
Liverpool (White City)455,876
Ramsgate (Dumpton Park)443,434
Oxford409,444
Reading (Oxford Road)407,451
Portsmouth351,230
Cradley Heath347,657
Glasgow (Carntyne)292,160
Middlesbrough287,505
Rayleigh (Essex)276,838
Leicester (Blackbird Rd)274,485
Hull (Old Craven Park)248,472
Preston242,124
Wakefield206,653
Swindon199,620
Birmingham (Kings Heath)117,781
Norwich (City)109,336
Milton Keynes50,827 :