# 1941 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year

The 1941 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 16th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

## Summary

The year was dominated by the effects of World War II. The remaining classic races that had not been suspended in 1940 were duly suspended in 1941, with the exception of the Irish Greyhound Derby and Scottish Greyhound Derby.
Racing did continue at many venues but was restricted to afternoons during the winter, this is because of the blackout regulations and during the summer the meetings were held in the early part of the evening. Matinee meetings would also take place on weekends at some tracks. Staffing the racing worsened as many of the stadium and kennel staff were called up to serve.
Remarkably, despite restrictions on racing then annual totalisator turnover set a new record, reaching £42,027,642 and with a tax of 6% was a significant income for the government.
on 22 September, leading trainer Joe Harmon died, leaving a huge gap to fill in the trainers ranks.

## Competitions

Shortly before his death, trainer Joe Harmon continued his successful run of big race wins by training Lights O'London, who won the Scottish Derby. Ballycurreen Soldier reached his third consecutive Scottish Derby final under the training of a third different trainer. The event was completed in one evening, with heats at 7:35 pm and 7:55 pm and the final later at 9:45 pm. The principal London races remaining on the open race calendar were The Cambridgeshire, Wimbledon Spring Cup, Wimbledon Gold Cup, Wembley Gold Cup and Two Year Old Produce Stakes, also at Wimbledon.
Ballynennan Moon, now with Sidney Orton and owned by mrs Cearns, won the Wembley Summer Cup in August, quickly followed by the Berkeley Cup and was beginning to come to prominence as the nation's leading greyhound. However, with no English Greyhound Derby taking place, this brindle dog would never have the opportunity to claim the sport's biggest prize.

## Ireland

Iris racing suffered from the dreaded Foot-and-mouth disease; traveling almost ceased and the Irish tracks came to a standstill in many areas. The ban was finally lifted at the end of the summer and hectic plans were drawn up to save the Irish Derby before the year ended. This resulted in a late October slot for the competition and would be run at Shelbourne Park because Cork Greyhound Stadium had ruled themselves out from being able to stage the race. Harold's Cross Stadium also managed to stage the Grand National at late notice, which went down well with the Irish Coursing Club, who had noted that both Dublin tracks had come to the rescue. The Grand National title went to The Gunner. The Irish Greyhound Derby winner Brave Damsel, owned by John Byrne and The Gunner, were both sold to England. The latter was bought by a syndicate in Oxford for the sum of £400 and would become a crowd favourite at the recently built Oxford Stadium because of his hurdling ability.

## Roll of honour

Major Winners :
| Award | Name of Winner |
| 1941 English Greyhound Derby | Suspended |
| 1941 Irish Greyhound Derby | Brave Damsel |
| 1941 Scottish Greyhound Derby | Lights O'London |
| 1941 Welsh Greyhound Derby | Suspended |
Scottish Greyhound Derby, Carntyne (18 Jul, 525y, £300) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time (sec) | Trap |
| 1st | Lights O'London | Joe Harmon | 1/1f | 29.75 | 3 |
| 2nd | Shorn | Joe Harmon | 5/4 | 29.99 | 1 |
| 3rd | Ballycurreen Soldier | J Petrie | 5/1 | 30.39 | 4 |
| 4th | Keel Creamery | Joe Harmon | 10/1 | 30.43 | 5 |
| 5th | Joint Refusal | Austin Hiscock | 33/1 | 30.47 | 2 |
| 6th | Mr Gaughan | Private trainer | 33/1 | 30.63 | 6 |

## Tracks opened

| Date | Stadium/Track | Location | Ref |
| 22 March | Doncaster Greyhound Stadium | Doncaster | |

## Totalisator Returns

Extended content :
The totalisator returns declared to the licensing authorities for the year 1941 are listed below. Tracks that did not have a totalisator in operation are not listed.
Stadium
Turnover £
London (White City)3,727,310
London (Harringay)2,549,889
London (Wembley)2,013,914
London (Wimbledon)1,927,815
London (Stamford Bridge)1,819,708
4 Glasgow Stadia combined (Albion, Carntyne, Shawfield, White City)1,746,759
London (Walthamstow)1,649,474
London (Clapton)1,376,230
London (West Ham)1,167,673
Manchester (Belle Vue)1,116,673
London (Wandsworth)1,046,055
London (Park Royal)1,034,674
London (Catford)875,598
3 Birmingham stadia combined (Hall Green, Kings Heath, Perry Barr)767,734
London (New Cross)761,660
Manchester (White City)652,605
London (Hackney)643,244
Bradford (Greenfield)622,176
London (Hendon)616,796
Sheffield (Owlerton)609,164
Wolverhampton (Monmore)594,100
Newcastle (Brough Park)593,115
Manchester (Salford)586,084
London (Charlton)567,159
Bristol (Eastville)564,242
Gateshead499,365
Newcastle (Gosforth)490,265
Edinburgh (Powderhall)488,261
Stadium
Turnover £
Romford487,433
Sheffield (Darnall)454,193
London (Dagenham)444,138
Brighton & Hove399,301
Newcastle (White City)393,959
Gloucester & Cheltenham361,439
Liverpool (Seaforth)359,711
Willenhall357,694
Cardiff (Arms Park)353,791
Liverpool (Stanley)351,956
Ashington (Co Durham)337,041
Preston317,042
Reading (Oxford Road)316,163
Nottingham (White City)315,209
Slough315,009
Liverpool (White City)296,357
Leeds (Elland Road)284,692
Derby251,589
Rochester & Chatham222,732
Portsmouth220,126
South Shields216,035
Bradford (City)206,924
Newport201,841
Middlesbrough196,683
Stanley (Co Durham)196,635
Bristol (Knowle)187,936
Sheffield (Hyde Park)185,766
Long Eaton171,608
Norwich (Boundary Park)158,525
Liverpool (Breck Park)156,634
West Hartlepool152,306
Stadium
Turnover £
Houghton-le-Spring134,525
Southampton114,955
Luton108,291
Ipswich108,266
Hull (Old Craven Park)105,827
London (Stratford)99,662
Warrington78,797
Norwich (City)77,868
Falkirk (Brockville Park)76,084
Easington (Co Durham)75,759
Edinburgh (Stenhouse)70,598
Aberdeen67,150
Wigan (Poolstock)66,024
Coundon (Co Durham)53,100
Doncaster (Spotbrough)41,330
London (Southall)23,443
Kingskerswell (Devon)21,912
Aldershot19,550
Leeds (Parkside)16,977
Durham City16,371
Rotherham16,083
Castleford (Whitwood)15,680
Irvine (Caledonian)8,852
Stockport (Hazel Grove)8,285
Wombwell (South Yorks)8,248
Worksop7,790 :