# 1984 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year

The 1984 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 58th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

## Roll of honour

Major Winners :
| Award | Name of Winner |
| 1984 English Greyhound Derby | Whisper Wishes |
| 1984 Irish Greyhound Derby | Dipmac |
| 1984 Scottish Greyhound Derby | Not held |
| Greyhound Trainer of the Year | George Curtis |
| Greyhound of the Year | Whisper Wishes |
| Irish Greyhound of the Year | Morans Beef |
| Trainers Championship | George Curtis |

## Summary

The year was dominated by the closure of greyhound racing's flagship stadium White City. It signified one of the lowest moments in the history of greyhound racing. The 1969 option granted to Stock Conversion and Investment Ltd for development finally became a reality. The final meeting was held on 22 September where Hastings Girl trained by Tommy Foster won the final race. The last White City Derby was won by Whisper Wishes before the event switched to Wimbledon, despite calls for it to go to Wembley. The company that introduced greyhound racing to Britain, (the Greyhound Racing Association) came under severe criticism.
The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) released the annual returns, with totalisator turnover slightly down at £59,382,835 and attendances also slightly down recorded at 3,942,344 from 5191 meetings. Track tote remained at 17.5% and government tote tax at 4%.
Whisper Wishes, a black dog was voted Greyhound of the Year. after winning the Derby at White City. 1984 Greyhound of the Year Yankee Express trained by George Curtis won a third successive Scurry Gold Cup title.

## Competitions

The White City events switched to new tracks, in addition to receiving the Derby, Wimbledon would host the Springbok and the English Greyhound Derby Invitation. The Grand National went to Hall Green but the Longcross Cup and Wood Lane Stakes was discontinued.

## Tracks

Walthamstow would take over the mantle as the leading track, as shown by the final of the Grand Prix. A crowd of more than 5,000 watched Sunrise Sonny win the race. Over one million tote units were sold, the highest recorded figure since 1945.
Overshadowed by the closure of White City was the closure of three other tracks, on the 14 April both Cambridge and Perry Barr closed and Leicester ran its final meeting on 15 August after 56 years operating at Blackbird Road. It was sold by their owners Midland Sports to Barratts homes for new housing which left just Coventry operating under the name of Midland Sports. Mick Wheble who held the position of Racing Manager at Leicester and Coventry moved to take over at Oxford where Jim Layton had left for Brighton. Coventry recruited a young Racing Manager in Sean Doyle, son of trainer Paddy Doyle but Sean's career would be cut short when he died from cancer.
Independent tracks Brean Sands and Blackburn both closed but Ashington in Northumberland re-opened. Northern Sports opened their new state of the art 200 seated grandstand restaurant and leisure facilities including squash and snooker clubs at Dumpton Park, Ramsgate. Brough Park was sold to Bernard Neesham who stopped trainers from supplying greyhounds to neighbour Gosforth.

## News

White City trainers Tom Foster and David Kinchett joined Wimbledon and Ray Peacock went to Harringay Stadium. Frank Baldwin, Frank Melville, Graham Mann and Richard Griffin were left without a track.
A black greyhound called Scurlogue Champ, whelped in July 1982 arrived in England after initially being sold at the Shelbourne Park sales and then on to owner/trainer Ken Peckham for £1700. He had an odd running style in that he would often be outpaced early before finishing with remarkable strength. From September he broke four long-distance track records at Ipswich, Catford, Harringay and Hall Green. Another greyhound called Ballyregan Bob won his first race on 25 October 1984.

## Ireland

Ger McKenna won a twelfth Irish St Leger and a fifth Irish Laurels.

## Principal UK races

Daily Mirror Grand National, White City (April 7 500m h, £4,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Kilcoe Foxy | George Curtis | 4-5f | 30.32 | 2 |
| 2nd | Oriental Express | Dinky Luckhurst | 20-1 | 30.48 | 4 |
| 3rd | Damson Sam | Codd | 9-2 | 30.66 | 1 |
| 4th | Going Solo | Terry Keith | 8-1 | 30.69 | 6 |
| 5th | Spa Champ | George Curtis | 9-1 | 30.85 | 3 |
| 6th | Bells Lodger | Gunner Smith | 8-1 | 31.39 | 5 |
BBC TV Trophy, Wimbledon (Apr 11, 820m, £2,500) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Weston Prelude | Arthur Hitch | 4-1 | 52.14 | 2 |
| 2nd | Middleton Panel | G Middleton | 7-1 | 52.20 | 3 |
| 3rd | Market Mover | J Gardner | 1-1f | 52.36 | 6 |
| 4th | Wild Surprise | Harry White | 25-1 | 52.44 | 4 |
| 5th | Blue Shirt | George Curtis | 7-1 | 00.00 | 5 |
| 6th | Jos Gamble | Jerry Fisher | 5-1 | 00.00 | 1 |
Scurry Gold Cup, Slough (Jul 14, 442m, £5,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Yankee Express | George Curtis | 11-10f | 27.03 | 6 |
| 2nd | Karinas Pal | George Curtis | 3-1 | 27.09 | 2 |
| 3rd | Fifth Column | John Coleman | 11-4 | 27.27 | 1 |
| 4th | Alone Sparky | John Annett | 10-1 | 27.28 | 5 |
| 5th | Another Ronald | Ray Peacock | 50-1 | 27.60 | 3 |
| 6th | Decoy Star | Joe Cobbold | 16-1 | 27.88 | 4 |
St Leger, Wembley (Aug 31, 655m, £7,500) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Gizzajob | John Coleman | 33-1 | 40.28 | 3 |
| 2nd | Glatton Grange | Ken Linzell | 6-1 | 40.34 | 4 |
| 3rd | Starters Orders | Stan Smith | 6-1 | 40.56 | 1 |
| 4th | Lavey Rock | George Lang | 2-1f | 40.70 | 5 |
| 5th | Decoy Lassie | Joe Cobbold | 9-4 | 40.73 | 6 |
| 6th | Wheelers Tory | Paul Wheeler | 4-1 | 40.76 | 2 |
Gold Collar, Catford (Sep 22, 555m, £5,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Wheelers Tory | Paul Wheeler | 11-4 | 35.05 | 2 |
| 2nd | Aitch-Bee | Gunner Smith | 11-8f | 35.08 | 4 |
| 3rd | The Jolly Norman | George Curtis | 5-2 | 35.11 | 1 |
| 4th | Rathkenny Lassie | Ernie Wiley | 10-1 | 35.17 | 6 |
| 5th | Soda Pop | Adam Jackson | 71 | 35.21 | 3 |
| 6th | Downview Choice | John Copplestone | 25-1 | 35.43 | 5 |
Cesarewitch, Belle Vue (Sep 29, 815m, £3,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Mobile Bank | Ernie Gaskin Sr. | 7-4f | 52.92 | 2 |
| 2nd | Star Decision | Gunner Smith | 5-2 | 53.26 | 1 |
| 3rd | Decoy Lassie | Joe Cobbold | 5-1 | 53.52 | 3 |
| 4th | City Hall | Eric Howarth | 33-1 | 53.53 | 6 |
| 5th | Birkies Boy | Pam Heasman | 14-1 | 53.56 | 5 |
| 6th | Laden Jennie | Peter Rich | 7-2 | 53.72 | 4 |
The Grand Prix, Walthamstow (Oct 13, 640m, £5,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Sunrise Sonny | George Curtis | 25-1 | 40.00 | 4 |
| 2nd | Oakwood Lady | Ken Linzell | 6-4f | 40.03 | 6 |
| 3rd | Keem Rocket | Tony Meek | 9-4 | 40.09 | 1 |
| 4th | Glatton Grange | Ken Linzell | 4-1 | 40.11 | 3 |
| 5th | Lakefield Blue | Ken Linzell | 25-1 | 40.19 | 2 |
| 6th | Blue Shirt | George Curtis | 5-1 | 40.29 | 5 |
Oaks, Harringay (Oct 26, 475m, £7,500) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Sandy Sally | Jack Coker | 9-2 | 28.69 | 1 |
| 2nd | Black Sansisco | John Donohoe | 13-8f | 28.81 | 6 |
| 3rd | Debbies Time | Paddy Hancox | 3-1 | 28.85 | 4 |
| 4th | War Baby | Mick Puzey | 7-1 | 28.89 | 2 |
| 5th | Brians Yard | Philip Rees Jr. | 7-1 | 28.99 | 3 |
| 6th | Isn't She Nice | John Donohoe | 10-1 | 29.05 | 5 |
Laurels, Wimbledon (Dec 27, 460m, £5,000) :
| Pos | Name of Greyhound | Trainer | SP | Time | Trap |
| 1st | Amenhotep | Linda Mullins | 7-1 | 27.82 | 6 |
| 2nd | Lulus Hero | Gunner Smith | 10-1 | 27.84 | 1 |
| 3rd | Ardbeg Brian | Peter Coy | 4-1 | 27.87 | 2 |
| 4th | Nippy Law | Geoff De Mulder | 4-1 | 28.05 | 3 |
| 5th | House of Hope | Jim Wood | 11-8f | 28.15 | 5 |
| 6th | Carry On | Norah McEllistrim | 10-1 | 28.16 | 4 |

## Totalisator returns

Extended content :
The totalisator returns declared to the National Greyhound Racing Club for the year 1984 are listed below.
Stadium
Turnover £
London (Walthamstow)8,011,964
London (Wimbledon)4,973,979
London (White City)4,660,533
Romford3,563,306
Brighton & Hove3,514,439
London (Harringay)3,444,051
London (Catford)2,771,634
Slough2,479,106
London (Wembley)2,292,699
Birmingham (Hall Green)2,093,220
Manchester (Belle Vue)2,079,348
Edinburgh (Powderhall)1,655,165
Crayford & Bexleyheath1,403,277
Southend-on-Sea1,251,068
Sheffield (Owlerton)1,149,981
Stadium
Turnover £
Glasgow (Shawfield)1,146,472
Wolverhampton (Monmore)1,012,148
Ramsgate952,992
Yarmouth875,834
Newcastle (Brough Park)801,265
Portsmouth791,033
Maidstone760,432
London (Hackney)644,455
Milton Keynes599,689
Bristol561,012
Derby537,170
Oxford512,150
Reading485,539
Rye House371,713
Hull (Old Craven Park)359,879
Stadium
Turnover £
Henlow (Bedfordshire)350,427
Ipswich343,895
Poole340,247
Cradley Heath336,798
Newcastle (Gosforth)315,672
Nottingham309,562
Middlesbrough293,368
Swindon279,908
Peterborough245,640
Coventry230,292
Norton Canes208,770
Leicester185,842
Birmingham (Perry Barr, old)142,377
Clacton31,159
Huntingdon14,325 :