Romford Greyhound Stadium

Romford Greyhound Stadium

Romford Greyhound Stadium circa.1980
Location	London Road Romford Greater London RM7 9DU England
Operator	Entain (Ladbrokes Coral)
Capacity	1,700 people
Construction
Opened	Old track 1929 New track 1931
Renovated	2019
Tenants
Greyhound racing
Website
Official website

Romford Greyhound Stadium, referred to as Coral Romford Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track located in Romford town centre in the London Borough of Havering in east London which is owned and operated by the Ladbrokes Coral group. The stadium has a capacity for over 1,700 people.

The stadium has won several awards including the British Greyhound Racing Board's 'Racecourse of the Year' award in 1998 and again in 2003. Following the closure of Wimbledon Stadium in March 2017, it is one of only two stadiums left in London or Greater London, the other being Crayford Stadium.

Racing

The track is 350 metres in circumference, and the distances raced are 225, 400, 575, 750 and 925 metres.

There are six race meetings each week, on Friday and Saturday evenings, Wednesday and Saturday mornings and two afternoon meetings on Monday and Thursday. During December racing is also held on Tuesday evenings.

Bets for each race can be placed either at the Tote or with the track-side bookmakers.

A number of major open racing events take place at the stadium each year, these include the Cesarewitch (an original classic), the Champion Stakes, the Essex Vase, Romford Puppy Cup, Golden Sprint and Coronation Cup.

Facilities

The stadium consists of the Coral grandstand which is situated on the finishing line side of the track and is split over two levels. It contains two public bars, The Champions Bar and La Roc Bar, Trap 7 Snack Bar and Tote betting facilities. It also contains the Paddock Restaurant, which can seat 200 diners. The Coral grandstand opened on 6 September 2019 after a £10 million refurbishment.

A separate restaurant called The Pavilion is situated on the third bend and can cater for 100 diners. A purpose-built Marquee is situated on the fourth bend and contains a bar, snack bar and Tote betting facilities.

Competitions

• Cesarewitch
• Essex Vase
• Champion Stakes
• Golden Sprint
• Romford Puppy Cup
• Coronation Cup

History

Pre-war history and original track

Archer Leggett and his brother-in-law rented a small piece of land near the Crown Hotel just off the London Road in Romford in 1929. They put down £400 to equip the land ready for greyhound racing and opened for business on 21 June and invited privately owned greyhounds to chase a hare driven by an old Ford car engine. The venture only lasted one year because the landlord increased the rent, doubling it to £4 a week which resulted in the decision to move the greyhound operation. Later £600 was raised which enabled Leggett to build a new track with a stand in a field within Belle Vue Meadow adjacent to the London and North Eastern Railway line. The new site was on the south side of the London Road opposite the original venue north of the London Road. It included a hand-operated totalisator and electrically operated hare. The first meeting took place on 20 September 1931 with regular attendances in excess of 1,000 frequenting each meeting.

In 1935 four new directors including Fred Leaney and Michael Pohl joined the original directors and an extra £17,000 investment followed which allowed the track to turn to be converted into a stadium. Extra stands and kennels were constructed by the new company called Romford Stadium Ltd who then turned their attention to the recently purchased Dagenham Greyhound Stadium.

Cheetah racing

The greyhound industry boom allowed companies such as Romford Stadium Ltd to thrive and greyhound racing itself was big business and national news. Before work got underway at Dagenham, Arthur Leggett decided that he was going to bring cheetah racing to the UK. Twelve cheetahs arrived from Kenya in December 1936 courtesy of explorer Kenneth Gandar-Dower. After six months of quarantine the cheetahs were given time to acclimatise before Romford, Harringay and Staines were earmarked for the experiment with the cheetahs running for the first time on Saturday 11 December 1937 at Romford. The experiment failed, with just one further race held; the racing stopped because although the cheetahs were able to better the greyhound times they had to be let off first when racing greyhounds and when they raced against each other they lost interest and stopped chasing the lure.

With the new Dagenham opening in 1938 Leggett next introduced a new event to Romford in 1939 called the Essex Vase. The stadium consisted of the main grandstand on the home straight that featured the Seniors Club and on the back straight was another stand and the Junior Club within. The paddock was on the third bend with the racing kennels and the Racing Managers office. Between the first two bends sat the totalisator and general office, the press office was on the first bend and there was a very unusual Racing Managers box in the middle of the centre green. The track was 380 yards in circumference with distances of 460 & 650 yards and an 'Inside Sumner' hare. The resident kennels were situated in Heaton Grange, 24 acres of ground off Straight Road to the north-east of Romford.

Post-war history

The Essex Cup was discontinued after 1949 for fifteen years and the Racing Manager in the fifties was Les Cox. The Director of Racing Michael Pohl died in 1959, his son Michael J. Pohl Jr. was the assistant to Cox. Trainers attached to the track during this time were Peter Hawkesley, Bill Riley, Bob Thomson and Hubert Gray. George 'Bunny' Gough, former Racing Manager of Powderhall Stadium & Harringay Stadium, joined the track replacing Cox as Racing Manager in the early 1960s but the fallout from the 'Dagenham Coup' was felt by Romford Stadium Ltd in 1965 with the legal costs incurred by Romford Stadium Ltd finally being paid by the off-course bookmakers. It was the end for Dagenham as the company sold the track for £185,000 to a packaging business.

Training appointments towards the end of the decade and start of the 1970s included John Coleman and Terry Duggan and in 1975 a second feature event was added to the tracks portfolio when they introduced the Romford Puppy Cup. During 1976 Arthur Leggett, the managing director, on behalf of the company agreed the sale of Romford to Corals.

The new owners invested heavily into the track building a new grandstand which included a state of the art glass-fronted restaurant, the tote and hare system were also replaced. The investment reaped rewards as the track became extremely popular with public and the industry alike. John Sutton was brought in as the managing director, Gough was promoted to general manager and Des Nichols (who was RM in 1975-6 and again in 1978 with Sydney Wood in the interim) were racing managers. Coral's signalled their intent by buying Brighton & Hove to double their track assets and preventing Ladbrokes from increasing their group, the latter had been a serious bidder for the two tracks at the same time.

In 1977 local bitch 'Go Ahead Girl' recorded 17 consecutive wins for Duggan and one year later with Corals and Ladbrokes now owning seven tracks the payments for BAGS racing to the National Greyhound Racing Club ended. Instead the tracks would tender for the contracts. Only Hackney, Bristol and Watford along with five bookmaker-owned tracks (one of them being Romford) had BAGS contracts at this time.

Lauries Panther (owned by Laurie James and trained by Terry Duggan) won the 1982 English Greyhound Derby, providing Romford with their greatest moment and both Ballyregan Bob and Scurlogue Champ appeared at the track. The former won the 1985 Essex Vase going through unbeaten and breaking the track record in the final. Three new major events were introduced; the Coronation Cup became Romford's third major trophy in 1986 following the closure of Southend Stadium, the Golden Sprint was inaugurated in 1987 followed by the resurrected Champion Stakes in 1988. In 1996 former Bolton boss Peter O’Dowd became Racing Manager taking over from Steve Daniel who had himself only recently replaced Ray Spalding. Leading Trainers have included Linda Mullins, Peter Payne, Kenny Linzell, Linda Jones, David Mullins and Peter Rich.

21st Century

In 2006 the stadium underwent a £400,000 refurbishment of the main grandstand restaurant. Trainer Paul Young (who joined the track in 2000) won the 2014 Trainers Championship. In 2018 the stadium signed a deal with SIS to race every Monday afternoon, Wednesday evening, Thursday afternoon, Friday evening and twice on a Saturday (morning and evening).

During 2019 a multimillion-pound renovation took place, which included the demolition of the main stand to create more car parking space, a modernisation of the reception area and office buildings, the construction a grand stand and a new track was laid down. The venue remained open throughout with the exception of four day closure in the August. The official re-opening was on 6 September 2019.

In 2020 the Cesarewitch competition was brought back after an eight-year dormant period, the event was sponsored by stadium owners Ladbrokes Coral as a category 1 race.

In 2022, Entain signed a long-term deal with the Arena Racing Company for media rights, starting in January 2024.

Popular culture

Several Underworld tracks are named after greyhounds that ran at the stadium, including Born Slippy, Sappy's Curry, and Pearl's Girl.

Track records

Current

Metres	Greyhound	Time	Date	Notes
225	Chopchop Rainbow	13.17	28 October 2022
400	Roxholme Nidge	23.26	15 September 2017	Romford Puppy Cup heats
575	New Destiny	34.53	14 June 2024	Coronation Cup final
750	Avit on Bertha	46.37	12 December 2012
925	Riverside Honey	58.57	6 September 2019	TV Trophy heats
1100	Cregagh Prince	72.59	10 March 1987
400 H	Glenwood Dream	24.07	12 March 2010
575 H	El Tenor	35.53	19 February 1999

Former (post-metric)

Extended content

Metres Greyhound Time Date Notes 225 Troy Tempest 13.42 13 September 2002 225 Louisville 13.37 9 January 2004 225 Rotar Wing 13.37 23 October 2009 225 Tearaway John 13.28 12 March 2010 225 Walk the Talk 13.18 9 June 2017 400 Just Clear 24.21 10 August 1978 400 Blue Style 24.02 1983 Romford Puppy Cup Final 400 Sados Choice 23.87 6 December 1986 400 Right Move 23.78 8 May 1992 400 Sandwichsunshine 23.58 27 September 1996 400 Fifis Rocket 23.58 16 April 2010 Golden Sprint semi-final 400 Ardbeg Mentor 23.56 23 April 2010 Golden Sprint Final 400 Eden Star 23.34 16 September 2011 Romford Puppy Cup semi-final 575 Bermudas Fun 35.15 11 July 1978 Essex Vase Final 575 Ballyregan Bob =35.15 9 July 1985 Essex Vase Final 575 Sard 35.09 21 September 1988 575 Elderberry Chick 34.86 18 July 1997 Champion Stakes Final 575 Palace Issue 34.81 9 July 1999 575 Sportsman 34.94 7 July 2003 Champion Stakes heats 575 Solid Money 34.78 9 July 2004 Champion Stakes second rd 575 Airport Captain 34.67 13 August 2013 Champion Stakes final 575 Adageo Bob 34.67 2 December 2014 575 Quantum Leap 34.62 9 August 2019 575 Sparta Master 34.59 22 November 2019 Essex Vase heats 575 Hollow Man 34.54 6 October 2023 Champion Stakes heats 715 Scurlogue Champ 44.18 16 April 1985 750 Scurlogue Champ 46.80 2 March 1985 750 Keem Rocket 46.70 2 March 1985 750 Bubbly Prince 46.68 7 January 2000 750 Killeacle Phoebe 46.64 19 June 2001 925 Langford Dacoit 59.56 27 July 1978 925 Salina 59.13 7 April 1981 925 Aero Rebel 58.62 12 December 2012 400 H Barrymoss Queen 24.50 8 August 1985 400 H Emers Flight 24.49 18 September 1989 400 H Pantile 24.49 4 May 1990 400 H Run With Billy 24.41 18 February 1994 400 H Rossa Ranger 24.17 5 July 2002 400 H Sizzlers Bossman 24.15 18 July 2005 400 H Freedom Man 24.12 8 May 2009 575 H Champagne Glory 36.22 16 October 1984 575 H Shanavulin Jacko 36.20 10 April 1993

Former (pre-metric)

Extended content

Yards Greyhound Time Date Notes 460 Beau Coup 26.54 27.08.1938 National Record 460 Tan Gent 26.08 1946 460 Low Pressure 25.83 September 1959 460 Yellow Dew 25.51 11 May 1963 460 Westpark Jupiter =25.51 1968 460 Ace of Trumps 25.47 7 April 1969 460 Houghton Spur 25.47 13 May 1969 =equalled 460 Ace of Trumps 25.18 13 May 1969 500 Jimmy Pallet 27.69 11 May 1971 550 Pastorale Passe-partout 32.58 1941 650 Pearls Choice 37.66 1947 650 Vals Parachute 36.43 7 August 1965 650 Shamrock Clipper 36.42 1967 650 Cullen Era 36.42 1968 =equalled 650 Tarrys Gay Lady 36.19 1970 650 Dolores Rocket 36.06 6 July 1971 Essex Vase Final 840 Carmen Star 48.38 20 August 1963 840 Breachs Blizzard 48.23 1967 840 Hat Band 48.02 1970 880 Bedford 50.35 1967 880 The Marchioness 50.28 18 March 1972 1030 Walking Champ 60.85 14 April 1964 1030 Ashley Park Mystery 60.87 1967 1030 Castle Satoo 60.42 1970 1030 Curraheen Lady 60.00 11 May 1971 460 H Cheerful Chairman 27.60 9 May 1939 National Record 460 H Vintners Cup 26.19 1958 460 H Derry Palm 26.14 2 June 1970 650 H Neds Bay 37.61 1967 650 H Gipsy Jerry 37.47 19 March 1968