Itchy York article

Greyhound racing in York

Itchy York goes to the dogs

The weekly cycle of bouncing between work, pub and bed can get a mite tedious. While we’re great fans of frittering away an evening down the boozer, we do sometimes feel like we could be varying our recreational diet a little more. Enter greyhound racing. Once the preserve of craggy-faced old boys with flat caps, rollies and unnervingly few teeth, a trip to the dogs has long since become a pleasure with universal appeal. Unfortunately greyhound racing still remains highly mysterious to most peoples, so in the name of exploration, Itchy headed down to the dogs to demystify it for you, dear readers.

And boy, was it exciting. A usually deadpan Itchy may even have roared ‘Come on orange!’ as a mob of big old hounds came jackballing past us in pursuit of a juddering neon bunny, and made us act like little girls watching horror films - peering at the action between our fingers as our lucky number three slipped and dropped back a place.

There are two ways to bet at the dogs. You can either cut a deal with the bookmakers at various stalls in the stadium, or, more usually, you can bet on the tote. These are booths that line both the main and popular enclosures, and are generally the simplest way to bet. First you look at your race card (included in the entry price) and pick the mutt you think is a dead cert. Then you walk up to one of the nice ladies in the booth and give them the amount you want to bet, the number of the dog, and whether you think it will be placed (finish within the top three) or win, but you'll only get around a quarter of the odds on a place bet compared to a win.

According to Ann Aslett, the press officer at Walthamstow - voted Racecourse of the Millenium by the British Greyhound Racing Board - these essential principles of greyhound racing are the same whatever track you head to. ‘What I would say though is that each course has its own personality, so they’re all worth a visit.’

Her own course at Walthamstow is the biggest in the country at present, and the wildest win she’s ever heard of there was a number of years ago when a jackpot built up to over 30 grand. Eventually it was won by a bookie from out of town who covered all the possible options, at an estimated personal cost of around £20,000.

Certainly among the wide range of visitors to Walthamstow the seasoned gamblers are still very much in evidence – Itchy spotted one guy in a battered trilby (seriously) queuing at the booths with a stack of slips at the end of the night. A few floppy helium balloons and bored-looking family members bore testament to the fact that this was his 70th birthday, and he was spending it rinsing the tote.

There are a number of different sorts of race, including sprints, hurdles, and the long-distance marathon, which Ann reckons is generally the most popular among betters in the know. But does she have any useful tips for gambling rookies? ‘First of all ask for our ‘how to bet’ guide from the tote booths. Apart from that just go with your gut – and pick a dog you like the look of. It’s not an exact science, and I’ve seen a lot of first time betters do really well.’

Itchy of course went for win bets on long odds every time, which probably explains why we left four quid down (not including the price of three pints and a pie and chips from the canteen). On the other hand there’s nothing like holding your heart in your mouth as that seven-to-one fleabag comes thundering across the line a half length ahead of the nearest dog. Tote betting is a very fair computerised system so your winnings are an exact proportion of how much has been bet in total. If you do score, then all you do is take your slip back to the booths and they’ll hand over sweet, unearned cash. Just beautiful.

If you want to join Itchy in checking out some greyhound racing, then try paying a visit to this York greyhound track:

Meadow Court Stadium
Station Road
Stainforth
Nr Doncaster
DN7 5HS
(01302) 351 639
www.meadowcourtstadium.co.uk
(about 30 mi away)

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