Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom

Greyhound racing is a sport in the United Kingdom. The industry uses a Parimutuel betting tote system with on-course and off-course betting available, with a turnover of £75,100,000.
Attendances peaked in 1946 at around 70 million and totalisator turnover reaching £196,431,430. Attendances have declined to less than 2 million in 2017. As of 22 September 2020 there are 19 licensed stadiums in the UK (excluding Northern Ireland) and three independent stadiums (unaffiliated to a governing body).
History.
Modern greyhound racing has evolved from a form of hunting called coursing, in which a dog runs after a live game animal – usually a rabbit or hare. The first official coursing meeting was held in 1776 at Swaffham, Norfolk. The rules of the Swaffham Coursing Society specified that only two greyhounds were to course a single hare and that the hare was to be given a head start of 240 yards.
Coursing by proxy with an artificial lure was introduced at Hendon, on September 11, 1876. Six dogs raced over a 400-yard straight course, chasing an artificial hare. This was the first attempt to introduce mechanical racing to the UK; however it did not catch on at the time.
The oval track and mechanical hare were introduced to Britain in 1926, by Charles Munn, an American, in association with Major Lyne-Dixson, a key figure in coursing. Finding other supporters proved to be rather difficult, and with the General Strike of 1926 looming, the two men scoured the country to find others who would join them. Eventually they met Brigadier-General Critchley, who in turn introduced them to Sir William Gentle. Between them they raised £22,000 and launched the Greyhound Racing Association. On July 24, 1926, in front of 1,700 spectators, the first modern greyhound race in Great Britain took place at Belle Vue Stadium, where seven greyhounds raced round an oval circuit to catch an electric artificial hare. They then hurried to open tracks in London at the White City Stadium and Harringay Stadium.
The first three years of racing were successful financially, with attendances of 5.5 million in 1927, 13.7 million in 1928 and 16 million in 1929.
Racing.
The greyhound racing industry in Great Britain currently falls under two sectors: that registered by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), and a sector known as 'independent racing' or 'flapping' which is unaffiliated to a governing body.
Registered racing.
Registered racing in Great Britain is regulated by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) and has been UKAS accredited since 2010. All in the registered sector are subject to the GBGB Rules of Racing and the Directions of the Stewards, who set the standards for greyhound welfare and racing integrity, from racecourse facilities and trainers' kennels to retirement of greyhounds. There are Stewards' inquiries, and then disciplinary action is taken against anyone found failing to comply.
The registered sector consists of 19 racecourses and approximately 880 trainers, 4,000 kennel staff and 860 racecourse officials. Greyhound owners number 15,000 with approximately 7,000-8,000 greyhounds registered annually for racing.
Independent racing.
Independent racing, also known as 'flapping', is held at three racecourses. The numbers of trainers, kennel staff, owners and greyhounds involved in independent racing is unknown because there is no requirement for central registration or licensing, and no code of practice. In England, standards for welfare and integrity are set by local government, but there is no governing or other regulatory body.
Stadiums.
In the 1940s, there were seventy-seven licensed tracks and over two hundred independent tracks in the United Kingdom, of which thirty three were in London. Now there are 19 registered and three independent stadiums.
Registered stadiums.
There are 19 active Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) registered stadiums in the UK, with 18 in England and one in Scotland. There are no tracks in Wales, and Northern Irish tracks do not come under the control of the GBGB.
Independent stadiums.
There are also three active independent stadiums:
Competitions.
There are many types of competitions in Britain, with prize money reaching £15,737,122.
Greyhound Derby
This race must have minimum prize money of £50,000. The competition has six rounds and attracts around 180 entries each year. There are two derbys in Britain: the Scottish Greyhound Derby held at Shawfield Stadium, and the English Greyhound Derby formerly held at Wimbledon and Towcester. The 2019 competition will be held at Nottingham. In addition, the Irish Greyhound Derby, held at Shelbourne Park, is open to British greyhounds. There used to be a Welsh Greyhound Derby but the event finished in 1977 after the Arms Park track in Cardiff closed. In 2010 the Northern Irish Derby was introduced.
Category One Race
These races must have minimum prize money of £12,500. They can be run between one and four rounds but must be completed within a 15-day period, except for special circumstances. In any event the competition must be completed within 18 days. Category One races replaced competitions called classic races in the 1990s.
Category Two Race
These races must have minimum prize money of £5,000. They can be run with one, two or three rounds but must be completed within a 15-day period.
Category Three Race
These races must have minimum prize money of £1,000. They can be run over one or two rounds and within a nine-day period. A category three race can be staged over one day but must have minimum prize money of £500.
Invitation Race
A special type of open race usually staged by the promoter in support on the night of other opens. This will be proposed to the committee by the Greyhound Board or by a promoter, with the racers being invited into the competition rather than the usual process. The minimum prize money for these races is £750.
Minor Open Race
This is any other open race. The minimum added money for these races is £150.
Graded racing.
This is any other race staged at a track, and prize money is varied. This kind of racing is the core of most stadiums and some of the racing can be viewed in betting shops on the Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service (BAGS). The Racing Manager selects the greyhounds based on ability and organises them into traps (called seeding) and classes (usually 1-9) with grade 1 being the best class.
+ Only used if a track has an alternative standard distance.
Racing jacket colours and starting traps.
Greyhound racing in Britain has a standard colour scheme. The starting traps (equipment that the greyhound starts a race in) determines the colour. Races with eight greyhounds are no longer held.
A racing jacket worn by a reserve bears an additional letter 'R' prominently on each side.
Racing greyhounds and welfare.
Treatment of racing greyhounds.
Greyhound racing at registered stadiums in Great Britain is regulated by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB). In Britain, greyhounds are not kept at the tracks and are instead housed in the kennels of trainers and transported to the tracks to race. Licensed kennels have to fall within specific guidelines and rules and are checked by officials to make sure the treatment of racing greyhounds is within the rules. In 2018 licensing and inspecting trainer's kennels was conducted through the government-approved, UKAS accredited method. When a greyhound is due to race or trial at a track its health and condition must be checked by the veterinary surgeon at kennelling time and again before they are permitted to race, the weight must be recorded by officials and random drugs tests are conducted.
Retirement.
When the greyhounds finish racing they are retired under the GBGB bond scheme (introduced in 2020) which ensures the homing costs are met. Owners may keep the dog for breeding or as pets, or they can send them to greyhound adoption groups. The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) have introduced measures to locate where racing greyhounds reside after they have retired from racing and from 2017 the retirement data has been available to the public. Concern among welfare groups is the well being of some racing greyhounds who are not adopted upon their retirement, and that they may subsequently be put down or sold by their owners, however the GBGB require all owners to sign a retirement form indicating the retirement plans.
The main greyhound adoption organisation in Britain is the Retired Greyhound Trust (RGT). The RGT is a charity but is partly funded by the British Greyhound Racing Fund (BGRF), who gave funding of £1,400,000 in 2015 and rehomed 4,000 greyhounds in 2016. In recent years the racing industry has made significant progress in establishing programmes for the adoption of retired racers. Many race tracks have established their own adoption programmes in addition to actively cooperating with private adoption groups throughout the country.
There are also many independent organisations which find homes for retired Greyhounds including Forever Hounds, Greyhound Gap, Celia Cross Greyhound Trust and Bark Inn Kennels. Several independent rescue and homing groups receive some funding from the industry but mainly rely on public donations. In 2016, 1,500 greyhounds were rehomed by independent groups. In 2018 several tracks introduced a scheme whereby every greyhound is found a home by the track, these include Kinsley and Doncaster.
During 2020 many homing organisations including the Lincolnshire, Suffolk and Portsmouth Greyhound Trusts reported that all retired greyhounds were being homed and that there was a shortage. Concerns were raised that if the shortage of retired greyhounds continued it could force some homing organisations to close. 
Injuries.
The most recent independently verified published figures show that the 2019 injury rate was 1.21% which equated to 4,970 from 410,607 runs. The most common injury was a hind limb muscle at 1104 (0.27%), this was followed by foot injuries 1088 (0.26%), wrist 792 (0.19%), hock 765 (0.19%), fore limb muscle 504 (0.12%), for long bone 94 (0.02%) and hind long bone 29 (0.01%), other equated to 594 (0.14%).<ref>