For decades, greyhound racing captivated Britain's working class. As
World War II drew to a close in Europe, attendance levels at the U.K.'s
200 tracks reached a peak of 50 million a year.
EMPICS Sport/Press Association
Taylors Sky, the new favorite
for Saturday evening's Williamhill.com Greyhound Derby at London's
Wimbledon track, shows its pace.
But
the popularity of this former national obsession began to wane.
Competition from the new medium of television and a wider variety of
leisure options for working people led to a decline in attendances.
Tracks began to close, and they've been closing ever since. Only 25
remain in the U.K. today, attended by just 2 million people in 2010.
Walthamstow Stadium is the most recent casualty. It was one of the last
remaining tracks in London, and an icon of the sport, but was forced to
close its traps for good in 2008.
Another concern for the sport, is a scarcity of dogs.
Lack of incentives and rising costs to keep the dogs are forcing some
to quit the sport for good. Paul Walden, a former trainer in Swindon in
Wiltshire, whose family has been training dogs since the 1930s,
recently quit the business altogether as it was bleeding cash.
"I've given up. I couldn't make it pay any longer," he says. "The
prize money is being cut but everything else, like diesel and dog food,
is going up. Once the owners start disappearing, breeders aren't
prepared to have more dogs and trainers don't want to go through the
hassle if there is no demand. I have gone back to painting and
decorating."
A Racing Breed
Greyhounds are said to date back 4000 years. They are seen in early cave drawings and are even mentioned in the Bible.
They can reach 45 mph.
Greyhounds weigh 60-70 pounds with a fat content of about 16%, compared with 25% in other dogs.
Greyhounds can see clearly for a distance of half a mile
A greyhounds has a larger heart and lungs and more red blood cells than other canine breeds.
Racing greyhounds spend 80% of their time in the air, as close to "flight" as a land animal can get.
Celebrity owners included Babe Ruth, Frank Sinatra, and Ed Sullivan.
Source: WSJ research
But greyhound fanatics die hard. Eighty years
after Mick the Miller, arguably the U.K.'s most celebrated and
well-loved hound, surrendered his Greyhound Derby champion title in a
controversial race, the sport has not lost its capacity to thrill.
Last week, racing fans witnessed the shock exit of favorite Razldazl
Jayfkay who failed to qualify for the Greyhound Derby final at Wimbledon
stadium in London this Saturday evening. With the favorite out, this
year's £75,000 ($123,000) first prize is up for grabs for any of the six
dogs remaining in what's regarded as the most important competition for
the sport in England. The new favorite is Taylors Sky.
Greyhound racing's decline is being felt globally. According to
figures published by the Associated Press, there are only 25 tracks left
in just seven states in the U.S. compared with 50 tracks in 15 states a
decade ago. The amount of money bet annually on races in the U.S. fell
from $3.5 billion in 1991 to $1.1 billion in 2007.
Although the sport may never capture the British public's imagination
in the way it once did, there was a bit of a revival in the lead- up to
the financial crisis in 2008 as income and track attendances grew.
Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) revenues, derived mainly from
licensing tracks and a voluntary 0.6% levy paid by bookmakers, rose from
£4.1 million in 2001 to £14.4 million in 2008. However, it fell to less
than £8 million last year.
Track attendances have also seen a dip, down from about 4 million
people in 2008 to 2 million last year, according to the GBGB figures.
Gambling profits fell, with bookmakers' gross profit diving from £290
million in 2008-2009 to £277 million in 2009-2010, says the U.K.'s
Gambling Commission.
One reason of the decline is people cutting back on extra spending,
says Irish trainer Paul Hennessy, who has been training dogs for 30
years and hopes his charge Barefoot Bullet wins Saturday's Derby. "The
boom has quieted down," he says. "A lot of outside owners came in when
things were going well [in Ireland and the U.K.]. But then the recession
came and people, who treated the sport like a hobby, had more important
things to do than greyhound racing."
The sport is bleeding dog owners because of a lack of incentives,
says Charlie Lister, who has been running dogs for four decades. "Prize
money in horse racing is really big money. On the other hand, in
greyhound racing owners are running dogs for peanuts. You may have the
Derby but that's only once a year and only one dog wins it. There were
190 dogs competing for the top prize this year. The owners get fed up."
John Simpson, a trainer at Wimbledon, says: "People aren't breeding
as many dogs as they used to because there's less demand. There will be a
shortage of dogs in the next couple of years. This will affect the
sport big time and possibly more tracks will shut down."
A drop in demand may also explain a fall in dog registration. The
GBGB says registrations fell from 9,751 in 2007 to 8,552 last year and
"can be partly attributed to there being less tracks and the lengthened
racing career of greyhounds. Investment in track maintenance and safety
means greyhounds generally race for longer."
Many of the dogs available are poor quality compared to other
generations, adds Mr. Hennessy. "During the boom, people bred anything
that moved. As a result really good dogs are even scarcer to find now."
Separately, managers struggle to increase the numbers of people going
to the track as online betting becomes more widely available. At
Wimbledon, management shut down its traditional Tuesday races and runs
them only twice a week. Manager Keith Hallinan admits things will get
tougher for some tracks. "It's going to be the survival of the fittest,"
he says. "The numbers are in decline so the industry needs to
concentrate on providing the total experience with party packages and
restaurants. People want a deal."
But not everyone thinks the sport is doomed, even if it never reaches
the popularity it enjoyed during the Mick the Miller era. Mr. Hennessy
says: "We will never get back to the days of 10,000 people at one
meeting. That's not a reflection of the direction the sport has taken
but there are far bigger audiences possibly watching it on TV or online.
The volume of people is there."
And there are signs the sport might stage a comeback. A business man
who owns Henlow Greyhound Stadium has offered £9 million to buy
Walthamstow to reopen the dog track, including public leisure facilities
and affordable housing.
