A Balham couple are still in shock after witnessing the death of a greyhound during a race at Wimbledon Stadium last Friday.

Fred and Janet Baylis, of Heslop Road, had gone to the stadium with a group of family and friends as part of their silver wedding anniversary celebrations organised by the travel agents he works for.

Mr Baylis, 48, said: "Neither of us had been to the dogs before and I must admit that, as dog-lovers, we weren't particularly enjoying it, as the greyhounds were hurtling round the track very close together at breakneck speed.

"Then, in the third race a greyhound called Icecream Charlie went tumbling over at the third bend and was lying motionless on the track.

"On the way out of the stadium we were told by officials that the dog had broken his neck and had been put down."

Mr Baylis has vowed never to go near a greyhound track again and his place of work has vowed never again to organise any trips to the dogs.

Tony Peters, of greyhound protection group Greyhound Action, said: "The greyhound in question wasn't even two years old and has had his young life brutally ended by this terrible incident.

"The racing industry itself admits that over 3,000 greyhounds are put to death each year when their racing 'careers' come to an end. Six states in the USA have banned greyhound racing in recent years, so there is no reason why a ban shouldn't be imposed in the UK."

For more information about Greyhound Action call 01562 700 043 or 07703 55872 or visit greyhoundaction.org.uk

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'Stow Blow
Exclusive By Aiden Magee

LONDON may be about to kiss goodbye to greyhound racing as housebuilders
George Wimpey are believed to have bought the Walthamstow track for £35m.

With Wimbledon Stadium also a target to be sold off, the capital could see
the end of nearly 80 years of racing by Easter next year.

Sources close to Walthamstow's owners, the Chandler family, say the site has
been snapped up by Wimpey for £35m.

One source says the track could be shut down as early as November this year
but other estimates say it is more likely to close next March.

Walthamstow is Britain's best-attended greyhound venue and has had punters
flooding in under the Chandler banner since 1933.

But, despite its popularity, the track's annual accounts reveal they have
struggled to keep a lid on costs.

The prime East London site has long been a target for developers as it is
just half a mile from where the new London 2012 Olympic Stadium will be
built.

The 28 shareholders each want £1m from the sale but, before they can cash
in, greyhound racing insiders say £10m worth of debts have to be paid.

Trainers and staff also have to be paid off with the cash, while over 1,000
dogs face uncertain futures, should both tracks close.

Chandler died just 13 years after the track opened but it has remained in
the family ever since.

The Greyhound Racing Association are also thought to be looking to sell
Wimbledon Stadium for development despite buying it only recently.

The stadium is on a large mortgage and while the track is covering its
costs, it has made little profit.

But there is still hope that racing will continue at the stadium if a
compromise can be reached that will see only part of the site sold to a
supermarket chain.

Published: 31/05/2004 (Greyhound News) MICHAEL FORTUNE

HOW cruel life and sport can be. As Premier Fantasy raced into the first bend at Wimbledon on Saturday night the superlatives were flowing as realisation dawned that we could be witnessing history in the making. One stride later and the racing career of one of the greatest greyhounds any of us has ever seen was hanging by a thread of flesh.

It was all so quick and so harsh. The astonishing galloper was simply pulverising his William Hill Derby semi-final rivals into submission. He had recovered from a moderate enough start, his explosive early pace already carrying him into a clear lead. More than a few reckoned the record was already in grave danger.

But a massive groan rose from the stands as the dog shuddered to a virtual halt and Droopys Demaggio crashed into him. It was immediately apparent the wonder dog was in serious trouble. Bravely, he tried to continue, hobbling his way around the track until the sponsors' own David Hood caught him in front of the stands.
I have heard how Wimbledon was stunned, grown men reckoned to be tough had tears rolling down their cheeks. You can multiply the effect the tragedy had on the Shelbourne faithful, glued to the monitors, who realised their great hero had run his last race.

The instant TV pictures suggested that the damage might even be worse than a broken hock, and when the extent of the injury was later announced over the track's PA, there was a general sigh of relief. At least, they reckoned, he'll have the chance to pass on his ultra-special qualities to his sons and daughters in the year ahead.

Thanks to the mobile phone I caught up with trainer Seamus Graham soon after the incident. Here's a man who has experienced the agony and the ecstasy in a long and hugely successful career with greyhounds, yet he was absolutely shattered, virtually speechless.

His first thoughts were to get the dog home to Ireland and to have him examined. So, when I again dialled the mobile shortly after 11am yesterday, the reply came "we're driving through Dublin, we're on our way to Brian Jones in Dundalk."

Graham explained that they returned to the Savva kennels as soon as they could, fed the dog and then drove through the night to catch the first ferry back to Dublin. Thus, at lunchtime yesterday, the stricken tracker was being examined by the man who had given him a thumbs-up when he examined him in England the previous weekend.

Premier Fantasy has sustained multiples fractures of the right hock, possibly up to five, but it was confirmed last night that he would be saved and is due to have an operation this morning.

As he drove `up country', Graham said: "I know there's no chance of him racing again, our priority is to save the dog. I think he'll be a massive hit at stud and I've already had bitches booked in to him.

"He was a dog in a million, I've never seen the likes of him. He did everything right, he would lie down in the car the minute you pulled away from the kennel, but the moment you came to the gate into a track he would be electrified.

"I honestly feel he would have gone very close to the record last night, he would have been on his own down the back-straight. I was standing right at the spot where it happened and I immediately said to Peter Burgon, `his hock is gone'. It was an awful moment.

"It really is a tragedy because the people loved him, half the attendance at Wimbledon last night came down to the kennel to see how he was. He was a dog we were going to race, we were even thinking that if everything went well over the next week we would even bring him back next year. You just don't get dogs like him."
Since his early races Premier Fantasy's reputation grew with each outing. This scribe had no doubt he was the fastest dog to have run Shelbourne in the past 40 years and more.

Leading Dublin layer Ted Hegarty was of the same belief. He said yesterday: "No doubt in the world, he was the fastest dog on earth. There are no ifs or buts, he was the fastest I ever saw, he had everything: early pace, middle pace and stamina. His times at Shelbourne were mind-boggling and the one great pity is that we didn't get a chance to see him running over 550 yards at Shelbourne, I think he would have smashed the clock to smithereens.

"He would have been the shortest priced favourite ever for the Irish Derby, and the game over here will miss him this year, he would have been a huge crowd-puller."
In a brief racing career, Premier Fantasy completed 14

"How many accidents are caused by the handicapper putting dogs in wrong traps, as an owner recently said about Wimbledon in the racing post............"

Over the past six months a great many owners have asked me to send another contribution to your popular magazine on a variety of topics. It is impossible to respond to all of them at once, so I will try to explain what concerns most of them and what particularly affects those who can't speak for themselves - the cause and prevention of the rising injury rate."

"Much of the concern expressed to me about injuries during last month related to the rounds of the Derby at Wimbledon. On reading a notice in a newspaper inviting letters to the editor I submitted a rational explanation for the avalanche of criticism of the event, which included remarks such as "deadly" and "mickey mouse racing'."

"Prior to 1926 our greyhounds were raced only over straight courses and were admired for their ability to run with the efficiency of the cheetah. When they were raced around turns they became subjected to new stress from centrifugal, rotary and jack-knifing forces, which often exceeded the safe load for the musculo-skeletal system."

"To gallop around the three smaller of the turns illustrated (30M, 40M, 50M)without losing momentum, the greyhound may have to lean at an angle of as little as 30 degrees to overcome the centrifugal force which is pulling it outwards. This force is proportional to speed and weight and it may be sufficiently severe to break any tissue. It is inversely proportional to the radius of the semi-circle. The radius is half the distance between A (the entrance to the turn) and B (the exit). An individual greyhound running around the 60-metre radius first and then around the 30-metre radius at the same speed can be expected to suffer double the centrifugal force on the second run. Since the closure of West Ham, there is not a turn in Britain with a radius of 60 metres. In fact, only at Henlow and Owlerton are there turns with 50-metre radii..........."

"When the sport began here many dogs weighed less than 60lbs and bitches less than 50. They were slower than today's runners and the surfaces were equally slow. The great majority of tracks were designed with radii of less than 40 metres arid some were under 30."

"...........we have opened a number of mini-tracks suitable only for whippet racing and with total disregard for the safety factor. We have since been breeding from the bigger and faster specimens. We now have bitches weighing over 80lbs and dogs more than 100. When I first went to the dogs as a student, there were 'little champions' sound to run for three or four seasons. Now there are dogs running at almost twice that weight and about twenty-five lengths faster. But how long do they last? They may be crippled before they have had ten races. There is no excuse for being ignorant about the carnage. I have done my duty as a vet to advise people about limiting it for forty years.The tragedy is that promoters, bookmakers and the sham body set up to protect their interests, seem more interested in exploiting the trainers and the greyhounds for the maximum financial return than in listening."

St Leger will not be run again on Guy Fawkes' night

WIMBLEDON has pledged never to run the St Leger final again on Guy Fawkes' Night, writes Jim Cremin. Mike Raper, the GRA's PR director, said yesterday: "Our attendance suffered due to the clash, but there was also concern for the greyhounds given the bangs and flashes from fireworks. In hindsight, the event should have been moved. Yes, it was arranged to fit a Sky slot, but it won't happen again." Wimbledon's parades were curtailed to avoid exposing runners for too long, and racing took place normally.

Corelish Cruiser, a known nervous greyhound, actually ran well in the hurdles race. His part-owner, Dave Lawrence, Sky's producer, said yesterday that he had been more nervous than Corelish Cruiser. "Tommy [Foster] said we shouldn't worry, the outside noise at Wimbledon isn't as bad as at other places - and he was proven right, although the dog seemed a little uneasy going to traps."

Raper says he will discuss more radical plans with his GRA general managers. "My view has always been that if you can't beat them you should join them, and for future November 5ths I'd encourage our tracks to consider foreshortening meetings that night, perhaps run ten races ending at 9pm, and once the greyhounds are safely away, stage a fireworks display."

The Daily Telegraph yesterday described the staging of the meeting as "foolhardy planning." Giles Smith, in the paper's Sport on TV column, wrote: "With the south London sky a diorama of sparkly things going pop, you had to wonder whether even the mechanical hare would be able to induce the dogs to go in the same direction at the same time. "One worried also for the fate of the Sky Sports blimp. . . it was all to easy to imagine a shocking, Graf Zepellin-style conflagration in the night sky, with the man in the back garden turning to his astonished family and saying: `Amazing what you can now get for pounds 4.99'." Smith's tongue was firmly-in-cheek, and his entertaining piece ended: "An evening which had courted disaster turned out to be a hugely pleasurable success and, in the broadest sense, a triumph for sport over politics. Remember, remember the 5th of November, gunpowder, treason and Winalot."

Profits fall for Wimbledon owner GRA

Wembley plc, parent of Wimbledon owners GRA, today released their results for the 12 months to 30 June. Profits at the GRA, who also own tracks at Belle Vue, Portsmouth, Oxford and Hall Green, fell on 2001.

The operating profit achieved in the period by the GRA of £2.0m is 4.8% below the £2.1m achieved in the corresponding period of 2001. Wembley plc attribute this small reduction to trading levels in June, which were severely impacted by the football World Cup held in Japan and Korea.

Wembley have placed the responsibility for the exploitation of the greyhound product rights within the company with the GRA.

The GRA are expected to contract media rights directly with betting providers rather than consumers. The 24dogs service has reduced dramatically in recent weeks and it is hoped that the GRA turn round this business as soon as possible. The latest accounts include a provision for the closure of 24dogs of over £2.0m.

24dogs end live Wimbledon feed

Wembley plc-owned 24dogs has cut Wimbledon from its schedule as part of its "rationalisation" process. Oddly, despite being part of the same Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) group, there is no live audio or pictures from Wimbledon, Oxford, Belle Vue or Catford.

Full details can be found on the 24dogs site. This follows the removal of three members of the editorial team back in May which saw a subsequent reduction in their news and reporting service.