How Many Greyhound Races Are There A Year?

While horse races are generally much higher profile, there are a good number of greyhounds events that take place on a yearly basis but perhaps don’t get the same level of attention from the public as major horse racing meetings do. Those that have a passing interest in greyhound racing will know about the major meetings, but other than that many of them will go under the radar of most sports fans.

Of course, with every passing year it feels as though more and more greyhound tracks are closing down. This will obviously have a knock-on effect on the sport in general, but especially when it comes to the number of races taking place around the country each year. The closing of courses is largely to do with a decline in popularity of the sport, especially when it comes to evening fixtures. Even so, the existence of the Bookmakers Afternoon Betting Service means that greyhound racing is like to maintain its existence in the sports world for a number of years yet.

What Is BAGS?

The Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service, often referred to simply by the acronym of BAGS, is a service by which greyhound races take place at locations up and down the country specifically for the benefit of bookmakers and their customers. In other words, it is not always possible to attend a BAGS meeting and watch the racing live in person, but you can watch it at your bookie of choice and place bets on the outcome. It was formed in 1967 with the aim of giving afternoon greyhound meetings a platform, as well as being an alternative to horse racing.

Horse racing can be far more reliant on weather than greyhound racing will be, given the need for the Going to be good enough for racing to take place on it. The same is not as true for greyhound racing, which can take place in virtually any weather condition. The other reason BAGS was formed was that greyhound racing had, until then, been a traditionally evening affair. The Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service allowed racing to take place in the afternoon, when bookies’ shops were much more likely to be open and therefore available to customers.

In 2015, BAFS, in association with SIS and Sport Mediastream, launched the streaming service online. As a result, it wasn’t just people going into the betting shops around the UK that were able to watch and bet on the afternoon races taking place up and down the country. Those that wished to attend in person could do so for free, but it is mostly about attracting in-person betting by people that went into their bookies of choice looking for something to place a wager on. It was a huge step for greyhound racing, adding vast numbers of races to the calendar.

How Many Venues Host Racing?

The first thing to know about greyhound racing in the United Kingdom is that it is split in two: the independent races and the registered races. The former, often known as ‘flapping’, is not affiliated to a governing body and is therefore not regulated. Those that are registered come under the jurisdiction of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, which provides rules and regulations for how the racing should take place. The GBGB has been accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service since 2010, with all registered races obeying the GBGB Rules of Racing.

At the time of writing, the registered sector is responsible for 21 racecourses, employing around 900 trainers, 4,000 kennel staff and roughly 900 officials at the courses. There are about 15,000 greyhound owners, with in the region of 8,000 greyhounds registered to race on an annual basis. There are only three ‘flapping’ courses, but the lack of a need to register centrally means that the exact numbers of people involved in the unregistered version of the sport isn’t known. In essence, flapping courses should be avoided if you want to ensure that the integrity and welfare of the dogs is maintained.

It is fair to say that greyhound racing’s popularity has decreased markedly since its height. In the 1940s, Britain boasted around 77 licensed tracks, with 33 of them being based in London. Around 70 million people used to attend the greyhound races in the pre-war period, with 1946’s totalisator turnover reaching in excess of £196 million. The 21 registered stadiums at the time of writing are as follows:

• Brighton and Hove Stadium in Brighton and Hove
• Central Park Stadium in Sittingbourne
• Crayford Stadium in London
• Doncaster Stadium in Doncaster
• Harlow Stadium in Harlow
• Henlow Stadium in Stondon
• Kinsley Stadium in Kinsley
• Monmore Green Stadium in Wolverhampton
• Newcastle Stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne
• Nottingham Stadium in Nottingham
• Oxford Stadium in Oxford
• Owlerton Stadium in Sheffield
• Pelaw Grange in Chester-le-Street
• Perry Barr Stadium in Birmingham
• Romford Stadium in London
• Shawfield Stadium in Shawfield, Scotland
• Suffolk Downs in Mildenhall, Suffolk
• Sunderland Stadium in Sunderland
• Swindon Stadium in Swindon
• Towcester Stadium in Towcester
• Yarmouth Stadium in Great Yarmouth

It is worth noting that Shawfield Stadium is currently closed and the re-opening date hasn’t yet been confirmed. The three independent stadiums are as follows:

• Askern Stadium in Doncaster
• Thornton Stadium in Thornton, Scotland
• Valley Stadium in Ystrad Mynach, Wales

Again, those are the independent stadiums and therefore not really included in the list of races that take place officially each year.

How Many Races Are There A Year?

Statistics show that the injury rate of dogs taking part in greyhound races is about 1.21%. In 2019, that meant that in the region of 4,970 dogs picked up an injury from 410,607 runs. That gives you an indication of just how many races are taking place on a yearly basis. In 2021, it was down to about 318,346 runners, but still more than enough to mean that you can get a feel for the number of races that must take place each year. Even assuming eight dogs take place in each race, that would mean more than 53,000 races taking place.

Here is a look at the racecourses around the UK, including how many days of the week they host races:

The exact number of races taking place each day will differ from racecourse to racecourse, but that gives you a good sense of how often courses have races run on them. In 2020, in spite of the nature of the world at the time, there were nearly 40,000 greyhound races run. That was down by roughly one third on the year before, meaning that a normal year can expect to see as many as 53,000 races taking place at greyhound stadiums up and down the country.

The Big Races

The Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service is responsible for about 28,000 additional greyhound races every year. When you consider that there are in the region of 10,000 horse races annually, you can see just how many greyhound events take place over the course of 365 days. Some races are bigger than others, though, with the following being the biggest races that the industry has to offer: