# 1980 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year

The 1980 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 54th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

## Roll of honour

Major Winners :
| Award | Name of Winner |
| 1980 English Greyhound Derby | Indian Joe |
| 1980 Irish Greyhound Derby | Suir Miller |
| 1980 Scottish Greyhound Derby | Decoy Sovereign |
| Greyhound Trainer of the Year | Pat Mullins |
| Greyhound of the Year | Sport Promoter |
| Irish Greyhound of the Year | Indian Joe |
| Trainers Championship | Ted Dickson |

## Summary

The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) released the annual returns, with totalisator turnover up 10%, at £81,290,642 but attendances down 15%, recorded at 5,484,781 from 5504 meetings. The increase in tote turnover indicated a significant increase in spend per head because attendances had decreased significantly. The decrease could partly be blamed on 200 less meetings but the fact that tracks charged a 17% tote retention would have been another factor. Regardless of blame it was the lowest attendance return on record, even less than the first full year of racing in 1927.
Sport Promoter, a brindle dog was voted Greyhound of the Year. He won Gold Collar at Catford Stadium and the Grand Prix at Walthamstow Stadium.

## Tracks

Nottingham Greyhound Stadium opened on 24 January.
Ladbrokes closed Willenhall for development and cut prize money at Perry Barr and Monmore. Eastville Stadium suffered a major fire, and the majority of the south stand was destroyed causing more than £1 million worth of damage. Later in the year some consolation arrived in the form of a Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service (BAGS) debut in November, and along with Hackney would become the backbone of the betting shop service. Monmore also joined the BAGS, which is currently supplied by White City Manchester, Hackney, Wembley and Harringay.
Bletchley in Milton Keynes under the new promotion of Reg Young rejoined the NGRC under the permit scheme and would become known as Milton Keynes Stadium instead of Bletchley. Maidstone and Long Eaton would leave the scheme and the Knott family sold their interest in Poole Stadium.

## News

An outbreak of Parvovirus killed hundreds of pups in the early part of the year. The Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) continue to recover from their debt and repay creditors. Arthur Hancock retired as a trainer at Brighton and was replaced by GRA trainer Derek Knight who had previously been at Shawfield.

## Ireland

The Bord na gCon increase prize money by a further 25%. Knockrour Slave won the Irish Laurels for the second successive year and break the Cork Greyhound Stadium track record in the final recording 29.00 sec.

## Competitions

1979 Greyhound of the Year Desert Pilot reached the St Leger final at Wembley Greyhounds and performed well but lost out to Fair Reward trained by Bob Young with Decoy Sovereign runner up. Decoy Sovereign was trained by the Cobbold family Joe Cobbold and wife Doreen and had been bred by Brenda Baggs, wife of Gary Baggs who were helping the Cobbolds at the time. Decoy Sovereign easily won the Scottish Greyhound Derby final, the fawn dog defeated a good field. A greyhound called Rahan Ship has been ante post favourite for the Glasgow classic but had been withdrawn following the wrong form being printed in the racecard. The NGRC instigated an inquiry and some track officials lost their jobs before the dog returned to Ireland.

## Principal UK races

BBC TV Trophy, Wembley (Apr 2, 850m, £2,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Tread Fast | Graham Sharp | 53.20 | 12-1 | 2 |
| 2nd | Welsh Cobbler | John Honeysett | 53.24 | 9-2 | 5 |
| 3rd | Flighty Frances | | 53.26 | 8-1 | 4 |
| 4th | Gloss | Bette Godwin | 53.44 | 9-2 | 6 |
| 5th | Major Snoot | K Burgess | 53.88 | 16-1 | 3 |
| 6th | Roystons Supreme | Adam Jackson | 00.00 | 11-10f | 1 |
Grand National, White City (April 5 500m h, £4,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Gilt Edge Flyer | Eric Pateman | 4-5f | 30.22 | 1 |
| 2nd | Westlands Steve | Gunner Smith | 10-1 | 30.92 | 4 |
| 3rd | Teenage Heather | David Kinchett | 20-1 | 30.95 | 3 |
| 4th | Ballymena Moon | George Curtis | 4-1 | 31.11 | 6 |
| 5th | Scintillas Rock | Frank Melville | 16-1 | 31.63 | 5 |
| 6th | Right Arkle | Ted Dickson | 4-1 | 00.00 | 2 |
Laurels, Wimbledon (May 16, 460m, £3,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Flying Pursuit | John Gibbons | 6-4f | 27.89 | 4 |
| 2nd | Jon Barrie | Ray Andrews | 8-1 | 28.07 | 5 |
| 3rd | Lift Coming | Dick Hawkes | 5-2 | 28.25 | 6 |
| 4th | Dangerous Lad | Joe Pickering | 7-2 | 28.45 | 1 |
| 5th | The Grand Devil | Phil Rees Jr. | 14-1 | 28.55 | 2 |
| 6th | Super Countess | | 12-1 | 28.59 | 3 |
Scurry Gold Cup, Slough (Jul 19, 442m, £5,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Willing Slave | Ted Dickson | 2-1 | 27.11 | 1 |
| 2nd | Ballydonnell Ted | | 6-1 | 27.15 | 5 |
| 3rd | Able Worker | Nora Gleeson | 7-1 | 27.59 | 3 |
| 4th | Lancia Q | Paddy McEvoy | 7-1 | 27.63 | 2 |
| 5th | Alpine Mill | | 16-1 | 27.65 | 6 |
| 6th | Sunny Interval | Phil Rees Jr. | 7-4f | 27.69 | 4 |
Scottish Greyhound Derby, Shawfield (Aug 9, 500m, £3,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Decoy Sovereign | Joe Cobbold | 4-1 | 30.68 | 5 |
| 2nd | Coolarota | Ray Andrews | 10-1 | 31.16 | 3 |
| 3rd | Jon Barrie | Ray Andrews | 5-4f | 31.32 | 2 |
| 4th | Corleish Ron | | 10-1 | 31.38 | 4 |
| 5th | Barley Field | Joe Kelly | 5-2 | 31.62 | 1 |
| 6th | Town View Evert | Ray Andrews | 7-1 | 31.66 | 6 |
St Leger, Wembley (655m, £10,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Fair Reward | Bob Young | 5-2 | 40.46 | 2 |
| 2nd | Decoy Sovereign | Joe Cobbold | 8-1 | 40.58 | 6 |
| 3rd | Desert Pilot | Geoff De Mulder | 4-5f | 40.61 | 1 |
| 4th | Donore Speech | | 18-1 | 40.71 | 3 |
| 5th | Sport Promoter | Pat Mullins | 6-1 | 40.81 | 4 |
| 6th | Owners Guide | Tony Jowett | 100-1 | 40.91 | 5 |
Gold Collar, Catford (Sep 20, 555m, £5,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Sport Promoter | Pat Mullins | 8-15f | 35.06 | 5 |
| 2nd | Owners Guide | Tony Jowett | 8-1 | 35.22 | 6 |
| 3rd | Tivoli Town | John Cox | 4-1 | 35.34 | 2 |
| 4th | Cormacruiser | | 7-1 | 35.46 | 1 |
| 5th | Fly Muffin | | 25-1 | 35.68 | 4 |
| 6th | Westmead Echo | | 16-1 | 35.78 | 3 |
Cesarewitch, Belle Vue (Oct 4, 815m, £3,500) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Linkside Liquor | Gordon Bailey | 3-1 | 51.22 | 2 |
| 2nd | Visiting Time | | 2-1f | 51.25 | 3 |
| 3rd | Tread Fast | Graham Sharp | 3-1 | 51.28 | 4 |
| 4th | Roystons Supreme | Adam Jackson | 14-1 | 51.34 | 5 |
| 5th | Petite Silver | | 25-1 | 51.62 | 6 |
| 6th | Caesars Daughter | J Williamson | 3-1 | 51.76 | 1 |
The Grand Prix, Walthamstow (Oct 18, 640m, £5,500) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Sport Promoter | Pat Mullins | 2-1jf | 40.17 | 4 |
| 2nd | North Rain | Geoff De Mulder | 11-4 | 40.25 | 5 |
| 3rd | Boys Town | Pat Mullins | 6-1 | 40.33 | 6 |
| 4th | Honeygar Kid | Ray Andrews | 66-1 | 40.63 | 2 |
| 5th | Knockerlay Star | Adam Jackson | 2-1jf | 40.69 | 3 |
| 6th | Johns Luck | Norah McEllistrim | 20-1 | 41.25 | 1 |
Oaks, Harringay (Oct 31, 475m, £1,750) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Devilish Dolores | Ernie Gaskin Sr. | 20-1 | 28.72 | 4 |
| 2nd | Pacey | Miss R Sperry | 5-2 | 28.78 | 6 |
| 3rd | The Mill Queen | Tom Foster | 9-4f | 28.79 | 5 |
| 4th | Thanet Princess | Tom Foster | 14-1 | 29.01 | 2 |
| 5th | Roystons Damsel | Adam Jackson | 11-4 | 29.05 | 1 |
| 6th | Day Dream | Wally Ginzel | 7-2 | 29.17 | 3 |

## Totalisator returns

Extended content :
The totalisator returns declared to the National Greyhound Racing Club for the year 1980 are listed below.
Stadium
Turnover £
London (White City)8,601,270
London (Walthamstow)8,410,073
London (Wimbledon)6,337,216
London (Harringay)4,379,421
Romford4,030,569
London (Catford)3,950,040
Brighton & Hove3,648,558
Slough3,409,122
London (Wembley)3,302,233
Manchester (Belle Vue)3,006,025
Birmingham (Hall Green)2,544,020
Crayford & Bexleyheath2,387,655
Edinburgh (Powderhall)2,270,729
Newcastle (Brough Park)1,752,892
Southend-on-Sea1,733,398
Stadium
Turnover £
Glasgow (Shawfield)1,667,392
Birmingham (Perry Barr, old)1,663,977
Sheffield (Owlerton)1,526,712
Leeds (Elland Road)1,526,303
Wolverhampton (Monmore)1,346,299
Gloucester & Cheltenham970,347
London (Hackney)940,260
Yarmouth924,764
Derby912,433
Ramsgate886,521
Portsmouth872,621
Bristol (Eastville)829,729
Newcastle (Gosforth)621,531
Nottingham565,828
Reading531,223
Stadium
Turnover £
Poole530,080
Milton Keynes516,666
Middlesbrough468,621
Ipswich466,779
Hull (Old Craven Park)438,720
Coventry424,723
Cradley Heath414,698
Rye House359,551
Manchester (White City)344,927
Henlow (Bedfordshire)344,528
Leicester343,122
Oxford340,863
Swindon306,970
Norton Canes60,000 :