From:  P.A. Sweeney.  Wheatfield, Oswaldkirk, York 
(First Published in Sporting Press week beginning 6th June)

Greyhounds Must Have Safer Tracks

Dear Editor,

    I would like to congratulate you for the On The Grapevine columns in your issues of May 23 and 30 relating to the Stayers Classic at Monmore and more particularly the Derby at Wimbledon which may have done lasting damage to the image of racing. the report by Tom Kelly must alarm everyone responsible for your greyhound industry because of its dependence on a healthy scene in Britain.  His great experience of the whole business, his vivid memory of past events and his vision of the future enable him to appreciate that if hunting with dogs is banned and animals' rights become enshrined in law racing will be targeted by welfare activists with increasing intensity.

    As far back as 1970 I suggested that Bord na gCon should open a few safe tracks in Britain under the Irish system in an effort to stop the closures and revitalize the sport here.  Racing is still being strangled by the unconstitutional rules drawn up to protect the interests of a minority of promoters when I was just seven years old.  Members of my profession paid by promoters to attend racing have no power to protect greyhounds from abuse.  After Roy Gibbons retired from NAGO faceless corporate aims without love of greyhounds have taken over and most owners lost the will to protest.  Since the “Freedom of Racedays Act” of  85 permitted racing every day and every night tracks are now graded according to the capacity of the bar and the restaurant and there is no time for regular or proper maintenance.  Without any restriction on exploitation the welfare of trainers, Kennelhands and greyhounds is being compromised.

There is of course nothing new about the criticism of Wimbledon as the venue for Britain's major competition.  I experienced much misfortune with my runners at Plough Lane in the fifties and sixties and on hearing of the sale of White City in ' 84 1 wrote to the GRA suggesting that since the closure of West Ham the most suitable venue for our fastest greyhounds was Wembley.  It was a disappointment but no great surprise to be told that no business could consider giving up its most lucrative exercise to a rival company.  Five years later news of the amalgamation of the two companies made me try again but this time I received no valid reason for the rejection of my proposal.

Although I attended nearly every round of every White City Derby since 1947 1 have never been to the competition at Wimbledon.  However I have always received much feedback from racegoers and of course more from owners and trainers whose greyhounds sustained injuries.  This year I heard more criticism than ever before and some of it is from people who are strangers to me.  Punters complained that thirty six favourites in fifty nine races were beaten.  Twenty were not just beaten they were eliminated.  Some bookmaker friends of mine actually feft embarrassed at having no liabilities at all on the six "outsiders" that survived to contest the final.

Some of the critics are people whose only experience of racing is by courtesy of sky television.  The sight of greyhounds being knocked over while jostling for a footing on the sharp turns caused real concern to sensitive viewers and some have asked me for advice about any measures that might prevent accidents and injuries.

            Firstly it must be appreciated that the greyhound is born to gallop over a straight course with the efficiency of the cheetah.  In turning however undue stress may be exerted on the musculoskeletal system.  Centrifugal force is proportional to the speed and weight of the greyhound and inversely proportional to the radius of the turn. To negotiate turns at speed paws must be inclined away from the inside rail, on acute turns the angle of lean may be as little as thirty degrees.  In this position all force is thrust on only one limb for a fraction of a second and most of it must be absorbed by the tissues of the outside of the left limbs and by those of the inside of the right limbs. After racing on many tracks and trying to treat the monotonous pattern of injuries, many of which were hopeless, the necessity to breed smaller greyhounds and also to increase the distance between the straights on our tracks became obvious to me.  Greyhounds do not have to be big.  Bitches, though usually ten pounds lighter than dogs, can be equally successful.  One who handicaps herself by keeping a wide course confounded her odds of 1,000 to 1 by reaching the final of this Derby and finishing second.  One of the greatest trackers I have known was the triple Irish Derby winner Spanish Battleship.  His weight was 61 lbs when recording 29.64 at Shelbourne.  That the record there now is twenty lengths quicker should surprise nobody who knows that throughout the past fifty years bigger and faster greyhounds have been bred from.

            This obsession with pace and power might be excusable if we had increased the radius of our turns.  On the contrary a number of the more spacious tracks have been closed.  Britain now has but two - Henlow and Owlerton - that can boast of radii greater than fifty yards.  Greyhounds weighing more than a hundred pounds are now quite common.  To cater for them we should have straight courses.  If they are put on a conventional track the straights should be at least two hundred yards apart to allow them to turn without having to lean and get hurt.  Alternatively we could risk them on a circular track with a radius of not less than a hundred yards.

          One of my most rewarding experiences while visiting seventy eight Australian stadia was seeing some designed with welfare as a priority.  On some the turns were actually twice as spacious as those on the majority of our tracks. It was a joy to see big fast dogs running effortlessly without leaning and as if they were on a straight after I had become disillusioned here by the weekly sight of fractured hocks and wrists sustained in solo trials.  It seems quite callous that in over seventy years no "inquiry" has ever been held following such a tragedy while a trainer may be fined or sacked when a greyhound gives an improved performance after getting a bit of decent grub, love and massage. 

       There are two other factors here which contribute to the trouble in our racing.  Back in the fifties we were fortunate to have an even spread of inside and outside lures offering something to court pursuit by any greyhound.  Someone started a clamour for standardization.  The promoters with outside lures had the loudest clout and most of the inside ones gradually became redundant.  Every racegoer has since seen that many runners have a tendency to go out toward the hare and particularly on the turns since that is where it is stopped.  In America, Australia, Dubai, Europe, Macau and even in Vietnam and on nearly all independent tracks here the lure is on the inside and thus greyhounds are encouraged to turn left and follow its course.  Unless a runner goes lame foreigners rarely see the crowding that causes "baulking" and injuries in many of our races.  Additional reasons for the lure being on the inside is that it allows for a catching pen and it eliminates the need for moving the traps on and off the course.

The other hazard to our greyhounds is the interference frequently encountered as they exit from the traps.  I have often suggested that there should he spaces of at least two feet between traps.  This simple measure would allow runners room to take the first few vital strides without being hampered.  Hence the poor greyhounds must continue to suffer the consequences of the abominable and useless seeding sham.  I particularly detest seeing a greyhound classified as a wide runner in the hope it will make a quick break from trap six and then cut in on the turn causing another to be smashed against the inside rail.

            Now it is time to sum up and see where we might go from here.

During this Derby the leading British trainer told me he feared for the safety of his

 dog who was drawn in the red coat.  He told me: "When he looks out of the box he will see a shoulder sticking out from the inner rail just where it should have turned away to the left ". All that I could say to console him was  " if there was anybody in charge of the business, racing would surely be suspended until the fencing was realigned ".  Now at this late stage the public relations officer for the promoting company is quoted as saying they are going to look at the bend where the carnage took place and, if they feel that something is appropriate, they will do something.

Now then that is something for all you worried owners and trainers to be looking forward to while you are nursing your injured dogs.