The 1941 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 16th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and the 15th year of greyhound racing in Ireland.
Summary The year was dominated by the effects of World War II. The remaining classic races that had not been suspended in 1940 were duly suspended in 1941, with the exception of the Irish Greyhound Derby and Scottish Greyhound Derby.
Racing did continue at many venues but was restricted to afternoons during the winter, this is because of the blackout regulations and during the summer the meetings were held in the early part of the evening. Matinee meetings would also take place on weekends at some tracks. Staffing the racing worsened as many of the stadium and kennel staff were called up to serve.
Remarkably, despite restrictions on racing then annual totalisator turnover set a new record, reaching £42,027,642 and with a tax of 6% was a significant income for the government.
on 22 September, leading trainer Joe Harmon died, leaving a huge gap to fill in the trainers ranks.
Competitions Shortly before his death, trainer Joe Harmon continued his successful run of big race wins by training Lights O'London, who won the Scottish Derby. Ballycurreen Soldier reached his third consecutive Scottish Derby final under the training of a third different trainer. The event was completed in one evening, with heats at 7:35 pm and 7:55 pm and the final later at 9:45 pm. The principal London races remaining on the open race calendar were The Cambridgeshire, Wimbledon Spring Cup, Wimbledon Gold Cup, Wembley Gold Cup and Two Year Old Produce Stakes, also at Wimbledon.
Ballynennan Moon, now with Sidney Orton and owned by mrs Cearns, won the Wembley Summer Cup in August, quickly followed by the Berkeley Cup and was beginning to come to prominence as the nation's leading greyhound. However, with no English Greyhound Derby taking place, this brindle dog would never have the opportunity to claim the sport's biggest prize.
Ireland Iris racing suffered from the dreaded Foot-and-mouth disease; traveling almost ceased and the Irish tracks came to a standstill in many areas. The ban was finally lifted at the end of the summer and hectic plans were drawn up to save the Irish Derby before the year ended. This resulted in a late October slot for the competition and would be run at Shelbourne Park because Cork Greyhound Stadium had ruled themselves out from being able to stage the race. Harold's Cross Stadium also managed to stage the Grand National at late notice, which went down well with the Irish Coursing Club, who had noted that both Dublin tracks had come to the rescue. The Grand National title went to The Gunner. The Irish Greyhound Derby winner Brave Damsel, owned by John Byrne and The Gunner, were both sold to England. The latter was bought by a syndicate in Oxford for the sum of £400 and would become a crowd favourite at the recently built Oxford Stadium because of his hurdling ability.
Roll of honour Major Winners Award Name of Winner1941 English Greyhound Derby Suspended1941 Irish Greyhound Derby Brave Damsel1941 Scottish Greyhound Derby Lights O'London1941 Welsh Greyhound Derby Suspended
Scottish Greyhound Derby, Carntyne (18 Jul, 525y, £300)PosName of Greyhound TrainerSPTime (sec)Trap 1st Lights O'London Joe Harmon 1/1f 29.75 32nd Shorn Joe Harmon 5/4 29.99 13rd Ballycurreen Soldier J Petrie 5/1 30.39 44th Keel Creamery Joe Harmon 10/1 30.43 55th Joint Refusal Austin Hiscock 33/1 30.47 26th Mr Gaughan Private trainer33/1 30.63 6
Tracks opened DateStadium/TrackLocationRef 22 March Doncaster Greyhound Stadium Doncaster
Totalisator Returns
The totalisator returns declared to the licensing authorities for the year 1941 are listed below. Tracks that did not have a totalisator in operation are not listed.
StadiumTurnover £London (White City) 3,727,310London (Harringay) 2,549,889London (Wembley) 2,013,914London (Wimbledon) 1,927,815London (Stamford Bridge) 1,819,708 4 Glasgow Stadia combined (Albion, Carntyne, Shawfield, White City) 1,746,759London (Walthamstow) 1,649,474London (Clapton) 1,376,230London (West Ham) 1,167,673Manchester (Belle Vue) 1,116,673London (Wandsworth) 1,046,055London (Park Royal) 1,034,674London (Catford) 875,5983 Birmingham stadia combined (Hall Green, Kings Heath, Perry Barr)767,734London (New Cross) 761,660Manchester (White City) 652,605London (Hackney) 643,244Bradford (Greenfield) 622,176London (Hendon) 616,796Sheffield (Owlerton) 609,164Wolverhampton (Monmore)594,100Newcastle (Brough Park) 593,115Manchester (Salford) 586,084London (Charlton) 567,159Bristol (Eastville) 564,242Gateshead 499,365Newcastle (Gosforth)490,265Edinburgh (Powderhall) 488,261
StadiumTurnover £Romford 487,433Sheffield (Darnall) 454,193London (Dagenham)444,138Brighton & Hove 399,301Newcastle (White City) 393,959Gloucester & Cheltenham 361,439Liverpool (Seaforth) 359,711Willenhall 357,694Cardiff (Arms Park) 353,791Liverpool (Stanley) 351,956Ashington (Co Durham) 337,041Preston 317,042Reading (Oxford Road) 316,163Nottingham (White City)315,209Slough 315,009Liverpool (White City)296,357Leeds (Elland Road) 284,692Derby251,589Rochester & Chatham 222,732Portsmouth 220,126South Shields 216,035Bradford (City) 206,924Newport 201,841Middlesbrough 196,683Stanley (Co Durham) 196,635Bristol (Knowle)187,936Sheffield (Hyde Park)185,766Long Eaton171,608Norwich (Boundary Park) 158,525Liverpool (Breck Park) 156,634West Hartlepool 152,306
StadiumTurnover £Houghton-le-Spring 134,525Southampton 114,955Luton 108,291Ipswich 108,266Hull (Old Craven Park)105,827London (Stratford) 99,662Warrington 78,797Norwich (City) 77,868Falkirk (Brockville Park) 76,084Easington (Co Durham) 75,759Edinburgh (Stenhouse) 70,598Aberdeen 67,150Wigan (Poolstock) 66,024Coundon (Co Durham) 53,100Doncaster (Spotbrough) 41,330London (Southall) 23,443Kingskerswell (Devon) 21,912Aldershot 19,550Leeds (Parkside) 16,977Durham City 16,371Rotherham 16,083Castleford (Whitwood) 15,680Irvine (Caledonian) 8,852Stockport (Hazel Grove) 8,285Wombwell (South Yorks)8,248Worksop 7,790
References