# 1988 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year

The 1988 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 62nd year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

## Roll of honour

Major Winners :
| Award | Name of Winner |
| 1988 English Greyhound Derby | Hit The Lid |
| 1988 Irish Greyhound Derby | Make History |
| 1988 Scottish Greyhound Derby | Killouragh Chris |
| Greyhound Trainer of the Year | John McGee Sr. |
| Greyhound of the Year | Hit The Lid |
| Irish Greyhound of the Year | Make History |
| Trainers Championship | Ernie Gaskin Sr. |

## Summary

The sport was experiencing a mini boom, the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) released the annual returns, with totalisator turnover up nearly 30% at £98,476,532 and attendances up over 10% recorded at 4,432,117 from 5465 meetings.
John McGee head man to Fred Wiseman was granted a trainer's licence and took charge of the kennel. He had a remarkable year as a rookie trainer winning the Greyhound Trainer of the Year and winning the 1988 English Greyhound Derby with Hit the Lid, the white and brindle dog owned by Fred Smith was also voted Greyhound of the Year. McGee also trained Sard who won the Gold Collar at Catford Stadium.

## Tracks

Despite the boom in business five tracks closed, Hull, Maidstone, Gosforth, Derby and Preston all closed. Hull finished because the landlords Hull Kingston Rovers moved to a new stadium. The closure of Gosforth left the city of Newcastle with just one licensed track at Brough Park. Preston and Derby had both been opened by the same company in 1933 and after 55 years of different owners found themselves closing at the same time. Powderhall would change ownership twice, it was sold by the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) to local businessman Norrie Rowan for £1.8m, who then sold it on himself to Coral for an instant profit at £2.2m. The GRA lost the rights to the Scottish Greyhound Derby because they no longer owned any tracks in Scotland. Ellesmere Port Stadium started racing on 29 February.

## News

The NGRC announced that major competitions would no longer be listed as Classic races but instead they would be classed as Category One and Two races based on prize money levels. This led to many tracks that had previously never had the opportunity to hold a classic race offering increased prize money in order for their events to match the traditional classics in terms of status. The positive was the fact that prize money increased, the negative was the devaluing of some of the sports most famous races in the following years.
Grass finally disappeared from greyhound racing when Hove became the last course to remove the turf as the circuit switched to sand. The first computerised form system called Formbank was introduced, created by Peter Shotton it revolutionised Racing Office practices and was the advent to modern day systems.
Trainer Barney O'Connor famous for running at Walthamstow died.

## Competitions

The Stewards' Cup at Walthamstow was claimed by Westmead Move, now four years old. Another bitch Exile Energy was the winner of the St Leger at Wembley, the black bitch had made the Grand Prix final and brought Gary Baggs back to the public attention for the first time since his split with Towfiq Al-Aali, his leading owner the previous year. Aali had his own success with Ernie Gaskin when his Derby finalist Comeragh Boy won the year ending Laurels. Gaskin also secured a trainers position at Walthamstow.
The successes of bitches during 1988 continued with Wendys Dream, who won the Oaks at Wimbledon, the Byrne International and Puppy Oaks.

## Principal UK races

Daily Mirror Grand National, Hall Green (Mar 26, 474m h, £3,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Breeks Rocket | Dinky Luckhurst | 5-1 | 30.09 | 5 |
| 2nd | Mackintosh Wishes | | 16-1 | 30.15 | 3 |
| 3rd | Melville Bob | Phil Rees Jr. | 5-1 | 30.23 | 6 |
| 4th | Parktown Ranger | Tom Foster | 6-4f | 30.24 | 2 |
| 5th | Rosden Pilot | Norah McEllistrim | 9-4 | 30.42 | 4 |
| 6th | French Pirate | | 25-1 | 30.62 | 1 |
BBC TV Trophy, Hall Green (April 8, 815m, £4,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Minnies Siren | Terry Duggan | 16-1 | 52.50+ | 6 |
| 2nd | Decoy Princess | Mrs D Lucas | 11-4 | 52.84 | 1 |
| 3rd | Decoy Madonna | Mrs D Lucas | 7-1 | 53.10 | 5 |
| 4th | Silver Mask | Bill Masters | 9-2 | 53.22 | 4 |
| 5th | Role of Fame | Arthur Hitch | 9-4f | 53.36 | 2 |
| 6th | Super Duchess | Kim Marlow | 9-2 | 53.64 | 4 |
David Richardson Scurry Gold Cup, Catford (Jul 16, 385m, £6,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Farncombe Black | Ernie Gaskin Sr. | 8-13f | 23.53 | 3 |
| 2nd | Lissadell Tiger | Ernie Gaskin Sr. | 4-1 | 23.61 | 6 |
| 3rd | Why That | Phil Henwood | 50-1 | 23.87 | 2 |
| 4th | My Tallyho Two | Arthur Hitch | 7-2 | 23.88 | 5 |
| 5th | Dempsey Flash | Arthur Boyce | 33-1 | 23.96 | 4 |
| 6th | Boo Favourite | Les Lawrence | 20-1 | 24.00 | 1 |
Scottish Greyhound Derby, Powderhall (Aug 30, 465m, £7,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Killouragh Chris | Pete Beaumont | 6-4f | 28.75 | 3 |
| 2nd | Karens Champ | Gary Baggs | 6-1 | 28.78 | 5 |
| 3rd | Festival Wonder | Matt O'Sullivan | 4-1 | 28.79 | 1 |
| 4th | Lacca Spark | Hugh Davies | 40-1 | 28.82 | 2 |
| 5th | Claremont Moral | Pete Beaumont | 33-1 | 29.00 | 4 |
| 6th | Greenpark Fox | Michael O'Sullivan | 7-4 | 29.04 | 6 |
John Humphreys Gold Collar, Catford (Sep 17, 555m, £6,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Sard | John McGee Sr. | 6-4 | 34.61 | 3 |
| 2nd | Bankers Benefit | Adam Jackson | 8-1 | 34.83 | 1 |
| 3rd | Down West | Terry Atkins | 50-1 | 35.23 | 5 |
| 4th | Blue Emblem | Ernie Gaskin Sr. | 6-1 | 35.33 | 2 |
| 5th | Silver Chance | John Honeysett | 20-1 | 35.36 | 4 |
| 6th | Curryhills Press | Barry Silkman | 5-4f | 35.39 | 6 |
Track Bookmakers Cesarewitch, Belle Vue (Sep 24, 853m, £3,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Proud To Run | Harry White | 7-1 | 56.33 | 1 |
| 2nd | Decoy Madonna | Mrs D Lucas | 2-1jf | 56.47 | 3 |
| 3rd | Ballylarkin Mini | Lionel Maxen | 2-1jf | 56.59 | 4 |
| 4th | Manx Marajaz | Nigel Saunders | 7-2 | 56.87 | 5 |
| 5th | Astrosyn Trace | Derek Knight | 10-1 | 57.03 | 6 |
| N/R | Sams Wonderboy | | | | |
John Power Grand Prix, Walthamstow (Oct 8, 640m, £7,500) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Digby Bridge | John Malcolm | 50-1 | 40.14 | 3 |
| 2nd | Bad Intentions | John Ripley | 25-1 | 40.22 | 1 |
| 3rd | Exile Energy | Gary Baggs | 3-1 | 40.40 | 5 |
| 4th | Going For Glory | Kim Marlow | 5-1 | 40.50 | 6 |
| 5th | Bankers Benefit | Adam Jackson | 5-1 | 40.84 | 4 |
| 6th | Waltham Abbey | Adam Jackson | 11-10f | 00.00 | 2 |
Oaks, Wimbledon (Oct 29, 480m, £6,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Wendys Dream | Tommy Foster | 4-5f | 28.81 | 2 |
| 2nd | Carriglea Ese | Paddy Hancox | 7-1 | 29.01 | 1 |
| 3rd | Hillville Blonde | Bertie Gaynor | 12-1 | 29.25 | 3 |
| 4th | Barnacuiga Lass | Geoff De Mulder | 16-1 | 29.37 | 6 |
| 5th | Westmead Move | Natalie Savva | 3-1 | 29.38 | 5 |
| 6th | Kilbeg Judy | Kenny Linzell | 16-1 | 29.60 | 4 |
St Leger, Wembley (Nov 18, 655m, £8,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Exile Energy | Gary Baggs | 9-2 | 39.76 | 4 |
| 2nd | Westmead Pulse | Natalie Savva | 4-1 | 39.94 | 5 |
| 3rd | Down West | Terry Atkins | 14-1 | 40.08 | 6 |
| 4th | Jerpoint Diamond | Bernie Doyle | 1-1f | 40.14 | 1 |
| 5th | Super Supreme | Ken Reynolds | 11-2 | 40.20 | 3 |
| 6th | Roseville Jackie | Geoff De Mulder | 33-1 | 40.36 | 2 |
Ike Morris Laurels, Wimbledon (Dec 27, 460m, £6,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Comeragh Boy | Ernie Gaskin Sr. | 6-4f | 27.86 | 6 |
| 2nd | Pond Hurricane | Harry Williams | 4-1 | 27.96 | 1 |
| 3rd | Attractive Son | Ger McKenna | 6-1 | 27.97 | 2 |
| 4th | Captains Trail | Phil Rees Jr. | 3-1 | 28.13 | 3 |
| 5th | Paper Whisper | Arthur Hitch | 33-1 | 28.19 | 5 |
| 6th | Festival Wonder | John McGee Sr. | 10-1 | 28.63 | 4 |

## Totalisator returns

Extended content :
The totalisator returns declared to the National Greyhound Racing Club for the year 1988 are listed below.
Stadium
Turnover £
London (Wimbledon)16,593,590
London (Walthamstow)16,355,089
Romford7,418,073
Brighton & Hove6,597,798
London (Catford)6,277,629
London (Wembley)5,943,058
Birmingham (Hall Green)4,315,543
Manchester (Belle Vue)3,538,593
Crayford3,109,417
Oxford2,294,967
Edinburgh (Powderhall)2,147,110
Stadium
Turnover £
Glasgow (Shawfield)2,009,688
Newcastle (Brough Park)1,919,854
Sheffield (Owlerton)1,782,333
Ramsgate1,747,160
Wolverhampton (Monmore)1,657,914
Portsmouth1,529,916
Yarmouth1,363,609
Reading1,218,086
Swindon1,100,563
Bristol1,057,112
Milton Keynes1,025,807
Stadium
Turnover £
Canterbury950,524
London (Hackney)848,834
Rye House648,808
Poole647,432
Hull (Old Craven Park)603,508
Henlow (Bedfordshire)595,251
Peterborough417,070
Cradley Heath400,748
Middlesbrough369,815
Nottingham344,331
Swaffham305,964 :