The 1978 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 53rd year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and the 52nd year of greyhound racing in Ireland.
Roll of honour Major Winners Award Name of Winner1978 English Greyhound Derby Lacca Champion 1978 Irish Greyhound Derby Pampered Rover 1978 Scottish Greyhound Derby Pat Seamur Greyhound Trainer of the Year Geoff De MulderGreyhound of the Year Lacca Champion Irish Greyhound of the Year Pampered RoverTrainers Championship Ted Dickson
Summary The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) released the annual returns, with totalisator turnover up, at £71,504,284 and attendances down, recorded at 6,027,327 from 5688 meetings.
Lacca Champion, a brindle dog trained by Pat Mullins was voted the Greyhound of the Year after winning the 1978 English Greyhound Derby.
Paddy Keane became the first trainer to win both the English Greyhound Derby and Irish Greyhound Derby following the 1978 Irish Greyhound Derby win by Pampered Rover.
Tracks Ramsgate owners Northern Sports bought Oxford in April, with the proviso from the council that the Stadium must be used as a recreational Stadium until 1983. The Managing Director David Hawkins changed the stadium name back to Oxford Stadium from Cowley Stadium; Bob Newson was appointed the General Manager and Jim Layton would soon arrive as Racing Manager from Catford. Northern Sports also owned Doncaster and then added independent track Long Eaton to their portfolio bringing four tracks under their banner.
Brandon Stadium in Coventry opened on 19 September. Independent track Cambridge had a second attempt at NGRC racing on 24 November; the previous attempt had only lasted five months. This second spell would be more successful with top trainers Joe Cobbold, Natalie Savva and Pat Mullins taking attachments at the track over the next couple of years.
Watford closed on 30 October; the site would now only be used by the football club. As a consequence the BAGS contract went to Willenhall.
News The Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) made a profit which helped pay back some of their debt. The sale of the land that formerly housed Harringay Arena boosted the profits.
Trainer Phil Rees Sr. retired from training and his licence was handed to his son Phil Rees Jr. The latter chose not to take part in the trainer's championship because he had qualified by virtue of his fathers achievements in 1977. Gordon Hodson returned from Australia to take up a contract trainer's position at Brighton and two respected trainers Sid Ryall and Dave Barker retired. After a decade at Brighton, Peter Shotton took the role of head of racing at Wembley followed to the track by his assistant Jim Cremin. Other Racing Managers on the move were Jim Simpson to Romford from Crayford, Des Nichols moved to Brighton from Romford just one year after taking over from Les Cox. Paul Richardson took the chair at Brough Park and Gosforth replacing Tony Smith who switched to Crayford. At Hall Green Assistant Racing Manager Horace Peplow retired after 50 years on the racing staff and was replaced by Simon Harris son of former trainer the late Roger Harris.
John McCririck was brought in as an investigative reporter for the Sporting Life. In 1978, McCririck was voted the Specialist Writer of the Year in the British Press Awards. His stories included a sting that he had exposed based on the fact that Extel, who used to broadcast commentaries into betting shops, gave the off-times for greyhound races in minutes, without the refinement of seconds. By briefly delaying the commentaries, criminals were able to back dogs after a race had started.
During the same year McCririck took the lead in covering the Rochester Stadium coup. The track had decided to hold a dual distance event with heats over 277 metres and a final over 901 metres, unusual competitions were seen as an interesting way of presenting racing by several management teams. Two greyhounds trained by Jack Purvis both won sprint heats, Leysdown Pleasure at 33-1 and Leysdown Fun at 4–1. They had been backed off course by five South London men winning a reputed £350,000. Fun was withdrawn from the 901 metre final and Pleasure finished last, not staying the distance. BOLA advised its members to withhold payment and the Big Four Bookmakers refused to pay out. The NGRC held an inquiry and found no evidence of rule breaking. The police submitted a report to the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) who also took no action. It appeared that a legitimate coup had been staged and a protest resulted where 800 betting shop offices had their locks super-glued for not paying out. It was not until 1985 that a judge agreed that bookmakers were not liable to pay out.
Competitions Greenfield Fox trained by Ted Dickson continued his fine form carried over from 1977 by claiming the Scurry Gold Cup in April from favourite Lacca Champion. Another Pat Mullins greyhound Paradise Spectre (the Grand Prix champion) won the Guys and Dolls trophy and won 18 consecutive races from 9 September 1977 to 4 February 1978.
Dickson had a superb year winning the Trainers Championship at Monmore, where he gained five winners, Donals Greatest, Rip Perry, Kudas Toy, Lesleys Charm and Black Legend.
Principal UK races
Trainers Championship, (Monmore) Pos Name of Trainer Points1st Ted Dickson 522nd Natalie Savva 373rd Geoff De Mulder 324th Barbara Tompkins 305th George Curtis 256th John Coleman 24
BBC TV Trophy, Walthamstow (Apr 5, 820m, £1,500) PosName of GreyhoundTrainerSP TimeTrap 1st Westown Adam Natalie Savva 52.27 11-462nd Top Touch John Sherry 52.53 20-1 33rd Westpark Kale Phil Rees Sr. 52.59 1-1f 54th Shakehands 53.15 40-1 25th Gloss Bette Godwin 53.18 16-1 46th Langford Dacoit George Curtis 53.24 3-1 1
Grand National, White City (April 8 500m h, £1,500) PosName of Greyhound TrainerSP Time Trap 1st Topothetide Tim Forster 8-11f 30.23 22nd Raybet Norah McEllistrim 12-1 30.47 63rd Moreen Penguin Bette Godwin 9-1 30.93 44th Danger Freak Tom Foster 14-1 31.01 55th Moreen Flamingoe 7-2 31.09 36th Ballyhar Aim 10-1 31.10 1
Scurry Gold Cup, Slough (April 15, 442m, £2,500)PosName of Greyhound TrainerSP Time Trap 1st Greenfield Fox Ted Dickson 5-2f 27.00 42nd Northwood Double Paddy McEvoy 4-1 27.02 33rd Westmead Orchid George Bailey 20-1 27.14 14th Tiger Jazz Terry Dartnall 7-2 27.26 25th Lacca Champion Pat Mullins 9-4f 27.4656th Vals Son 50-1 27.48 6
Laurels, Wimbledon (May 19, 460m, £3,000)PosName of Greyhound TrainerSP Time Trap 1st Jet Control Bertie Gaynor 9-2 27.45 22nd Night Fall Bertie Gaynor 11-4f 27.51 63rd Pigeon Flyer Tom Reilly 3-1 27.61 14th Great Storytella Norah McEllistrim 4-1 27.65 45th Shady Monkey Colin West 12-1 27.67 56th Tiger Jazz Terry Dartnall 4-1 27.83 3
Scottish Greyhound Derby, Shawfield (Aug 5, 500m, £2,500)PosName of Greyhound TrainerSP Time Trap 1st Pat Seamur Geoff De Mulder 11-4 30.52 22nd Kentim Khan Bertie Gaynor 3-1 30.60 53rd Blissful Hero Geoff De Mulder 5-4f 30.70 34th Rum Please 5-1 30.90 15th Erins Band 14-1 31.06 4
St Leger, Wembley (Sep 4, 655m, £10,000)PosName of Greyhound TrainerSP Time Trap 1st Westmead Power Natalie Savva 4-5f 39.67 22nd Rhu Matt O'Donnell 11-4 39.9353rd Nipa Lassie Stan Gudgin 13-2 40.03 34th Waveney Boy 40-1 40.15 65th Tour Tess Frank Baldwin 12-1 40.23 16th Ascarne Bronco Pat Mullins 10-1 40.69 4
Gold Collar, Catford (Sep 23, 555m, £2,000)PosName of Greyhound TrainerSP Time Trap 1st Im A Smasher John Coleman 7-1 35.31 62nd Pat Seamur Geoff De Mulder 3-1 35.45 33rd Rockaway Star Barney O'Connor 3-1 35.59 24th Owners Guide Tony Jowett 3-1 35.63 15th Adamstown Sonny Dave Geggus 11-4f 35.79 46th El Cavalier Ted Griffin 10-1 35.95 5
Ladbrokes Cesarewitch, Belle Vue (Oct 7, 815m, £2,000)PosName of Greyhound TrainerSP Time Trap 1st Sportland Blue Harry Crapper 7-2 51.20 32nd Tour Tess Frank Baldwin 8-1 51.21 13rd Westown Adam Natalie Savva 4-5f 51.35 64th Micks Glory Ron Saunders 14-1 51.51 45th Corboy Kojak Harry Bamford 10-1 51.54 26th Peggys Darling Miss.B.Gavin 3-1 51.94 5
The Grand Prix, Walthamstow (Oct 21, 640m, £5,000)PosName of Greyhound TrainerSP Time Trap 1st Paradise Spectre Pat Mullins 3-1cf 40.03 22nd Toytown Sparkie Gwen Lynds 14-1 40.27 63rd Ruakuras Mutt Paddy Coughlan 3-1cf 40.39 14th Langford Dan 8-1 40.57 45th Adamstown Sonny Dave Geggus 3-1cf 40.58 36th Ballinamona Prim Brian Jay 9-2 00.00 5
Oaks, Harringay (Nov 3, 475m, £1,750)PosName of Greyhound TrainerSP Time Trap 1st Kilmagoura Mist Tom Johnston Jr. 10-1 28.55 42nd House Party Geoff De Mulder 1-2f 28.65 53rd Westmead Orchid George Bailey 5-1 28.71 14th Dot the Domino Dave Geggus 7-2 28.75 65th Timeless John Coleman 12-1 29.09 2N/R Shiloh Jenny Ray Wilkes
Principal Irish finals
Liam Cashman Laurels Cork (Sep 9, 525y, £5,500)PosName of Greyhound Trainer Time Trap 1st Knockrour Girl Denis Lynch 29.4052nd Gay Corner Duggan 29.61 23rd Killaclug Jet Denis Lynch 29.89 14th Allemaine Batt O'Keeffe 29.94 4u Shanaway Lad Ger McKenna 3u Median Line Ryan 6
Sean Kelly Bookmakers Oaks Shelbourne (Sep 16 525y, £5,500)PosName of Greyhound TrainerTime Trap1st Hail Fun McGeough 29.4032nd Tinnock Style Travers 29.5023rd Oh Milady Gay McKenna 29.6064th Sophronia Manning 15th Paddys Shandon Barry 56th Tain Gerty Fortune 4
Totalisator returns
The totalisator returns declared to the licensing authorities for the year 1978 are listed below.
StadiumTurnover £London (White City) 7,516,329London (Walthamstow) 6,698,105London (Wimbledon) 5,499,899London (Harringay) 3,921,877Romford 3,279,645London (Catford) 3,218,912London (Wembley) 3,187,421Brighton & Hove 2,635,330Slough 2,603,149Manchester (Belle Vue) 2,565,272Birmingham (Hall Green) 2,278,397Edinburgh (Powderhall) 2,083,876Crayford & Bexleyheath 1,846,876Birmingham (Perry Barr, old)1,645,611Southend-on-Sea 1,617,033
StadiumTurnover £Newcastle (Brough Park) 1,555,827Leeds (Elland Road) 1,480,743Sheffield (Owlerton) 1,453,632Glasgow (Shawfield) 1,310,937Wolverhampton (Monmore)1,176,329Bristol (Eastville) 1,104,259Manchester (White City) 991,229London (Hackney) 946,398Gloucester & Cheltenham 906,462Derby870,547Yarmouth 851,157Newcastle (Gosforth)802,030Ramsgate (Dumpton Park) 669,845Portsmouth 618,449Rochester & Chatham 618,449
StadiumTurnover £Willenhall 604,875Poole498,953Reading 458,276Middlesbrough 443,152Hull (Old Craven Park) 407,433Milton Keynes400,088Leicester (Blackbird Rd) 332,625Cradley Heath 298,762Ipswich 292,998Oxford276,205Swindon] 264,205Rye House 254,346Henlow (Bedfordshire) 248,273Coventry 168,628Norton Canes 120,000
References