Greyhounds
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11 Dec 18
12:21
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Date Joined:
25 Aug 11
Original home of greyhound racing in Britain staging the first meeting 1927, long gone are the glory days of Scurlogue Champ, the Northern Flat, and **** o' the North with very poor fare on offer and only one evening meeting per week
Seems just a matter of time before the bell tolls for the last time, you could even say borrowed time and I hope against hope the GRA end up having to sell for enormous losses. They've nearly gone the whole hog, not too far short of single handedly, to killing the sport
You got the feel for the owners/trainers and staff
Seems just a matter of time before the bell tolls for the last time, you could even say borrowed time and I hope against hope the GRA end up having to sell for enormous losses. They've nearly gone the whole hog, not too far short of single handedly, to killing the sport
You got the feel for the owners/trainers and staff
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Replies: 44
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Spent a couple of years there woody with Jimmy gibson. Met some great people all of who,m are still great friends. I bet 23/24 naps in a row with ( Teacher ) great place to work.
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Yeah, used to be great. So many ever so fond memories
Place falling apart now |
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Had a share in a dog with Jimmy 2005/2006. Sure knew how to charge his owners. Took it for a trial to Wimbledon along with some others and each dogs owners got charged the full amount for diesel. Didn't need to train them with an earn like that!! Other trainers used to work out the diesel cost and divide it by the number of dogs lol. Trained near me i think at Leyland where Pat Rosney is now. I'm surprised Teacher didn't put you on wages marking his card with a strike rate like that private!!
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Was £60 £80 biggest bet I had at time was £100. Poor kennelhand n u had to eat.
 to be fair jimmys missus looked after us like we was her own. Teacher did say at 1 time think I need to get u on firm. had a dog on card at Blackpool at time e was quick. E wernt right n Jimmy done his money on him 3 Times. I said ffs leave him alone I will sort him n we will get wages. 3 wks later entered him up inside box of 3 yrds. Jimmy was sick of him. Gave me £200. I gave teacher a grand . Biggest price e was 5/2. He laid me 4000/1000. He got buckets in race. Wen e knew most of it was mine he filled bag with others. |
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Black dog A2 at zoo. May av bin called article. That was his kennel name.
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Artie. E won himself.
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Took him to wilks,s in Midlands. A schooler. Put him against A1 dog at zoo. E beat it 3. Hence the big bet.
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Woody
hope the GRA end up having to sell for enormous losses They haven't owned any tracks for quite some time. They sold Belle Vue to Crown Oils Pension Fund some years ago. |
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That cant be right miss wales
You seriously think woody has got it wrong ? Again |
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Private, our paths have probably passed at some time. Blackpool, Preston, Blackburn were my tracks before flapping finished locally so eventually i moved on to Belle Vue.
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Was a long long time ago blackpool leger winner big black dog owned by a lad called John Marsden came to our track wallyford. Scottish leger winner at Ashfield was in the race. The locals had fortunes on there bitch. I paraded John's dog. Our mob bet the Marsden dog from 5/1 if memory serves to a very short price she led to home straight n the Marsden dog beat her just over 3 length. Great night in bar after. My mate highmoon on here still gets the odd dog for them today.
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Going back to the original post, i agree with Woody that it is criminal what Feltham & Hardy have done to Belle Vue. They are quite happy to rely on the 26k a week for no effort they get for the BAGS meetings than try and run a succesful dog track. They stopped Friday nights because they claimed it wasn't viable, when the crowds were there to make it work. Hardy said it took him 2 hours to get to the track on a Friday night which is b******t. The catchment area for dog racing in Manchester is fantastic. Liverpool/Merseyside/North Wales to the West. Preston, Lancashire, Cumbria to the North. Stoke & the Midlands to the South. Yorkshire to the East. What it takes though is management getting off their backsides and promoting the track. Also some investment & pride in the facilities & service when you do get people to attend. They've got the facilities there to make it a conference meeting centre with the added bonus of racing in the evening. Just off the motorway and located just outside the City Centre with free parking, they could make so much more use of the Stadium. We should be holding the Laurels & Oaks there this month, but Hardy let both competitions go. Said there was no sponsors around. Yet you have Pat Cooney of Bet365 saying they are looking to sponsor greyhound competitions, but that no track has been in touch for deals. Made 382 million last year and is 40 mile south of BV at Stoke, so i'm sure they could have pulled up 20k or so. William Hills & Skybet 30 miles away in Leeds not asked. Betfred is in Manchester but he has fallen out with BV for some reason so that would be a no go. What you need though is dynamic management who work for things, and make things happen, which is what BV doesn't have. Rant over lol
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Belle Vue is an excellent track and probably one of the best if not the best in the country. Considering its location in a large city all it required was investment in the stadium to make it a flagship track for the sport. Unfortunately it has always been owned and controlled by the wrong sort of people as Deepdale Dreamer has already said.
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The other big news in Manchester today is that planning has finally been submitted for 250 houses on the site of the Belle Vue track
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/developer-submits-plans-build-250-15565037 |
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Pleased to see Miss Wales is still on the go.
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When I first ventured south was my first port of call. Had some great times at the zoo. Some great people worked there.
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Great to see Miss Wales, full stop!
Bad luck woody. It's murder when your home track goes down. |
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It's sad Honcho but apart from odd BAGS meeting in summer, rarely went with the tosh on offer
Rather make the over 100 miles round trip to Sheffield for decent fare |
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less losers at sheffield obviously !
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Best running track in the country to one of the worst Sheffield.
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Why didn't they make the most of it then, Sparrow?
Don't think more injuries at Sheffield than anywhere else and theyre doing what they can with what they've got Belle Vue has been a disgrace for years |
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GRA is the answer you're looking for.
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It will be sad if Belle Vue closes
If they need a home for their starter, I know someone who may oblige  |
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Crikey UBLE/REGY.
The starter has been a racing office assistant for months now - you're obviously not watching very closely. BTW Mr Anagram, how are you doing? |
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Why another username ebul
Taxman catching up with you?! |
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If the land is that valuable for housing, why have they built a brand new speedway stadium a few hundred meters down the road?
Obviously, we are in the wrong game! |
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GRA is owned by property developers who are in control of planning applications on the greyhound land which may not be the case down the road.......although maybe the land down the road had a constraint similar to the wimbledon land preventing housing or maybe the construction of a new sporting facility is something that helps with the change of use for the greyhound land.....one thing you can rely on is belle vue will be developed in the not too distant future...…...
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It's sad but inevitable. It was my first port of call on my journey south as a kennelhand. Great people great memories of THE ZOO as it is affectionately known. Loved my time there.
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There's an online petition been started to save Belle Vue. I'm not sure if these ever do any good, but there's nothing to lose by signing it and everything to gain. Apprciate as much help as possible from members by signing and sharing to get the word out there please.
https://www.change.org/p/alan-kershaw-save-belle-vue-greyhound-stadium-from-the-hands-of-developers-237123d6-3347-40c9-b403-fcf5e1b4e81d |
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If the link doesn't work, go to change.org and put Alan Kershaw Belle Vue in the search box and you should find the page. Cheers
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The link works ok and duly signed.
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Thanks Sparrow
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I doubt it will do any good but I have signed anyway.
Our old hurdler won the Northern Hurdles there back in the '70s |
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signed.
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Signed
It's a crying shame the way GRA ran it down, as all their tracks In the 80's, the Chieftain stand dominated the back straight and there was viewing all the way round, even on the bends. The lit up toteboard was magnificent and there was even a fountain which changed colours as a central focal point in the middle of the track It was a joy to be in attendance Thought things were supposed to change for the better! |
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They used to race on grass too but with cost-cutting, the bane of all our lives, cheap maintenance was promoted
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Thanks fellas. Rydal i'm with you, i think it's beyond a petition but nothing to be lost by signing it. Track was busier last night than it has been all through December and Boxing Day.
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signed,
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Thanks Garry
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