South Tyneside track celebrates 10 years of racing with bumper month
East Boldon’s Sunderland Greyhound Stadium set for 100-year UK racing celebration.
Racegoers are being urged to get their teeth into a slice of history when South Tyneside’s only greyhound track celebrates 100 years of dog racing in the UK.
Bosses at East Boldon’s Sunderland Greyhound Stadium say the going is set to be good when they mark the anniversary next month.
Although racing did not start at the Newcastle Road venue until March 1940, it reached the Belle Vue Stadium in Manchester on July 24, 1926.
To get celebrations up and running and ready to spring from the traps, punters and fans can enjoy cut-price hospitality packages.
But the stadium will also host top class racing ahead of and during the centenary, including the £7,500 Arena Racing Company Puppy Trophy on Friday (NOTE - June 26).
General manager Joanne Wilson said: “July signals a historic moment for greyhound racing, and we are anticipating a bumper month trackside.
“While our sport – and other pursuits in life – have undergone significant change in the last century, greyhound racing’s fundamentals remain the same with the dogs at the heart of everything we do.
“Our racing operation touches millions of people worldwide every week.
“But July presents a perfect opportunity for racegoers to get themselves trackside and experience the thrill of the chase in person.
“It’s a fantastic, family friendly, night out people of all ages can enjoy.”
A greyhound named Mistley won the country’s first modern race in Manchester.
Fourteen years later, racing was introduced at the East Boldon site, which was built at a cost of £60,000 – a staggering £3m today’s money.
Greyhound racing’s historians say the sport exploded after the Second World War, with crowds of up to 92,000 turning up to watch fixtures at showcase venues, including London’s White City Stadium.
And they credit it with saving Wembley Stadium from demolition in the 1920s when the sport’s introduction ensured the site’s operators avoided liquidation.
Now, 86 years after Percheron won the first race at East Boldon, track officials are gearing up to mark the centenary with racing in July scheduled every Friday night and Sunday daytime.
Joanne said the venue’s Trackside Restaurant three-course meal hospitality package would be reduced to £19.26 per person, in recognition of the 100-year landmark.
She added: “Greyhound racing is a firm part of the UK’s sporting culture.
“We are proud to not only operate as one of the longest running venues in the country but also lead the way from a welfare point of view and provide outstanding levels of care and love at all stages of a greyhound’s life.
“They make the perfect pets in retirement, which we’re proud to facilitate by working closely with our homing partners who ensure each dog finds its perfect, forever, home when its racing career ends.
“Our team will showcase this and more to racegoers through our centenary celebrations for visitors old and new.”
Doors open at 6pm on Tuesdays and Fridays, while racing on Sundays begins at 11.09am.
The full fixture list can be viewed online via www.sunderland-greyhounds.co.uk.