Greyhound racing can provide more thrills and spills than any other sport. This welcome to greyhound racing will provide some detail on this exciting pastime and hopefully give novices and experts alike some new insight on dog racing.
The origins of greyhound racing lay in coursing. This practice would see two greyhounds both chasing a live hare, both dogs with the objective of turning the hare first. Unlike best online casinos, this practice is now banned in England. The Irish however still practice the sport of coursing and there is a a three day festival which sees huge crowds attend during February each year.
It was at Manchester’s Belle Due Stadium where the first licensed greyhound racing meetings took place, back in 1926. Unregulated flapping tracks were also operational for a number of years but gradually, more licensed greyhound racing stadiums opened their doors, and flapping gradually died a death. While a number of greyhound tracks have closed over the past two decades largely due to demand for new property throughout the UK, there are still a core of venues operational and as popular as ever.
Graded racing takes place on a daily basis in the UK and sees various standards of greyhounds compete at different levels from A12, right the way up to A1. There are other grades and categories, but this is the best example of the grading system. There are also Open races where prize money is much higher, but these competitions are a lot less frequent. The biggest prize of all is the UK Greyhound Derby which was a staple at Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium before its closure in 2017. Towcester is the new home of the Greyhound Derby and given the size of the venue, it is a fitting one. The event looks likely to remain at Towcester Greyhound Stadium for the foreseeable future.
Although the future of the sport was at one time open to question, new investment and diversification of the product has seen a marked upturn in the fortunes of greyhound racing in recent times. The reopening of both Towcester and Oxford are hugely positive steps and there has also been a boost with the broadcast of UK and Irish racing abroad thanks to a deal struck by SIS.
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