Catford’s gone to the dogs

More than 70 years of history went up in smoke on November 5 when the track’s owners, the Greyhound Racing Axesociation, err... I meant Association, decided that it could no longer sustain financial losses.

The GRA once had 11 tracks in its portfolio. Now it’s six and two of those – Oxford and Perry Barr – are relatively new acquisitions.

Greyhound followers as old as me will remember how the GRA closed its flagship track White City, the ancestral home of the Greyhound Derby, not to mention Harringay, acknowledged as having one of the best running surfaces in the country, and Slough, in the London area alone during the Eighties. And then there’s Wembley, although that’s another story....

Catford survived that particular cull, but even during my long time working as the track’s resident correspondent for the now-defunct racing paper, The Sporting Life, rumours about the stadium would circulate quicker than vultures over a carcass in the Serengeti.

Catford’s closure also means the end of greyhound racing in this corner of London.

Fans were once spoilt for choice between Catford, Charlton and New Cross – the car park that is the South Circular rules out Wimbledon as a regular option – but now they have Makro, Tesco or nowhere to go!

Bookmaker John Humphreys, who first went dog racing at Catford with his father 55 years ago, had stood in the main ring since 1966.

On hearing the news he said: “It was a shock and I’m very sad. I have heard many rumours over the years, particularly in the last few months, about the track closing but always ignored them.

“Catford had an almost unique atmosphere. It was so friendly and because of its size, everybody knew everbody else.

“However, in recent years you just had the feeling that the GRA were running the place down.

“I know there’s been problems with the lease on the car park from the railway authorities, but it did not expire until 2012.

“Gill, my wife, has owned greyhounds here and what she thinks of the closure is unprintable.” Humphreys had been one of Catford’s staunchest supporters, albeit you can argue with punters’ money, by sponsoring the track’s top annual event, the Gold Collar, for 18 years from 1979.

Gay Flash was an extremely popular winner that year for the late Paddy Milligan, who operated from the Beaverwood Kennels in nearby Chislehurst.

Humphreys added: “I know I’m probably blowing my own trumpet, but Gold Collar final night was always something very special during my time as sponsor.

“We had some great nights with sporting heroes like Henry Cooper, Frank Bruno, Lennox Lewis, Trevor Brooking and Pat Eddery among those who were my guests and presented the trophy.

“Bruno was besieged by autograph seekers but he signed every one and racing was delayed for about half-an-hour as I recall, while no-one who was there will forget Red Rum’s appearance in 1980.

“In 1992, Jimmy White was my guest and I paid him a decent sum to appear.

“Knowing that he liked a bet, I gave him the money up front and he promptly won £3,000 from me and then turned round and said he had enjoyed himself so much that he would have done it for nothing!

“In recent years it was not the same, although in September when this season’s final was run, the move from its traditional Saturday spot to Thursday was a success for me personally, as my business was the highest for three years.” Three years prior to Gay Flash’s victory, the event witnessed one of the sport’s epic races when Derby winner Mutts Silver and St Leger champion Westmead Champ went head-to-head in a truly unforgettable final reminiscent of Grundy and Bustino in the King George at Ascot.

Tony Panayi has been a Catford stalwart for almost four decades.

He said: “I’d been going there since 1965, both as a punter and an owner, and I can’t believe it has closed so suddenly.

“Only two days beforehand I had been speaking to the management about the finer details of our charity night, which had been scheduled for this Saturday when the Catford Owners’ Association, with whom I am heavily involved, would have been raising money for the Retired Greyhound Trust.

“There was no indication the track’s closure was so imminent and we had arranged for the Beefeaters from the Tower of London to come along and help with the fundraising and present the trophies.” Catford first became part of BAGS (Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service) in May, 1997, subsequently having its two meetings a week beamed into all the nation’s betting shops.

A BAGS contract is regarded as an “insurance” policy for tracks, particularly those suffering with low evening meeting turnover and spectator numbers.

But it ultimately failed to save a track which, it is understood, had been operating in the red for many years.

A statement released by the GRA stated: “Average attendances at Catford had dropped to under 1,000 for its four meetings a week. Greyhound racing has a wonderful history at Catford but, sadly, no future.” Clive Feltham, the GRA’s managing director, said: “Catford’s trainers will be offered alternative contracts at our other tracks.” However, with the exception of Wimbledon where a handful of Catford’s better-class dogs could race, the group’s nearest tracks are at Oxford and Portsmouth and, in reality, the offer to move to either of those is like offering a condemned man the choice of being hanged, beheaded or commit suicide on the M25.

The offer will be of little comfort to the 10 Catford trainers, their staff, and hundreds of owners, with more than 500 dogs between them, plus the 95 track staff made redundant.

Many owners will have no choice but to have their racers put to sleep because they will not have the income from appearance and prize money to keep them.

Barry Carpenter of the Catford Owners’ Association, said: “The commitee is both shocked and angered by the sudden closure of the track.

“Our primary concern is dog welfare, and our representative of the Retired Greyhound Trust believes that more than 100 dogs face a bleak future with many of them put to sleep.

“Wembley PLC, the parent company of the GRA, has allocated £600,000 to the cost of the closure but how much will be directly allocated to greyhound welfare?

“Had this Saturday’s Retired Greyhound Trust meeting gone ahead, it would have raised between seven and eight thousand pounds.

“We estimate that by closing immediately, the GRA has denied owners and trainers around £75,000 by the year’s end.” The association has set up a website – groups.msn.com/catfordclosure – to offer any assistance it can to owners.

And the news around the South Circular at the GRA’s remaining London track is not that good either.

Finance director Mark Elliott said: “Wimbledon is still struggling. We are optimistic its performance in the second half of the year will be better but attendances remain disappointing and racegoers’ expenditure low.” From a personal point of view, I will always remember Catford’s matinee meeting on Boxing Day, with its aroma of cigars in the air, the chinking of glasses, and when it seemed that most of south-east London had descened on it.

“The sight of Daffodil Dolly, one of the top local racers of her generation winning a race followed by her 100-strong fan club swarming around the winner’s podium, made you feel happy and great to be alive.

Of course, many did go home minus their rent money and now, sadly, Catford has died, which means I will now have to visit the mother-in-law instead!

RIP Catford.

10 things you might not know about Catford....

The first meeting took place on July 30, 1932, when dual Derby winner Mick The Miller, the most legendary greyhound in the history of the sport besides Ballyregan Bob and Scurlogue Champ, was paraded around the track.

Under the general managership of John Sutton – it was his father Frank and Charles Benstead who opened the track – it was the first to introduce a jackpot pool, now operated so successfully by horseracing.

Back in its heyday, Catford used to have as many as 80 bookmakers, while only four were operating in the main ring when it closed.

In 1973 it was the first track in Britain to stage eight-dog racing. The bends were banked but, in reality, it was probably the least ideal place to run such races due to its very small circumference of just 333 metres.

When tracks across Britain switched from grass to all-sand running surfaces, Catford laid green sand in an attempt to optically maintain its image.

Grand National legend Red Rum was paraded on the track when Sport Promoter won the 1980 Gold Collar final.

A Boxing Day meeting, the most lucrative fixture financially of the year, was cancelled due to frost despite a member of staff being paid to stay overnight and pull on tarpaulins to protect the running surface if the temperature dropped too much.

A female member of staff was once abducted by a gang and £30,000 – the night’s tote takings – stolen.

Anfield, the home of Liverpool Football Club, was not the only place to have a Spion Kop, as Catford had one too. The vast, banked terracing was demolished during the Eighties to make way for new turnstiles.

The late Roy Dwight – cousin of Reg Dwight (Sir Elton John) – who famously scored and then broke his leg in the 1959 FA Cup Final for Nottingham Forest against Luton, was assistant racing manager during the mid-1980s.