Crayford Stadium

Crayford Stadium is a greyhound track located in the London Borough of Bexley in England.^[1] The stadium, which has featured races since 1986, has private suites, a restaurant and a number of bars.

Matinée races take place on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with evening race meetings on Friday and Saturday nights. Crayford is owned by Ladbrokes.

Track records

^[2]

Competitions

• Golden Jacket
• Gold Collar
• Crayford Vase
• Kent St Leger
• Crayford Rosebowl
• Guys and Dolls

History

In 1984 Ladbrokes announced that racing would cease at the Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium to allow plans for rebuilding the entire stadium as part of a development project. The twenty acre site would be redeveloped with five acres of it being converted into a new greyhound track and sports stadium. Racing ended on 18 May 1985 and work began on the new stadium. Following sixteen months of development and construction it was ready for action. The grand opening took place on 1 September 1986 and the new stadium would be called Crayford after the decision was made to drop the Bexleyheath part, the stadium was situated in a different five acre part of the original twenty acres. ^[3]

In 1987 the track took possession of a major competition called the Golden Jacket which had struggled to find a new home since the demise of Harringay. The event had been temporarily held at Hall Green and Monmore and was a popular afternoon competition with television exposure. Crayford also provided a new matinee meeting for their Ladbrokes betting shops and another new competition called the Crayford Rosebowl was inaugurated. ^[4]

The dimensions of the all-sand circuit were a small 334m circumference with distances of 380, 540, 714 and 874 metres with an outside Sumner hare. Facilities included a restaurant for 138 covers, two bars and a twin-tier glass fronted covered stand. Also within the stadium was a sports hall complex, a fitness area and a swimming pool. The Racing Manager was Roy Dwight and General Manager Roy Lakey, soon to be replaced by Paul Lawrence and Barry Stanton respectively. The Guys and Dolls competition arrived at the track in 1997 but in 2000 Racing Manager Paul Lawrence parted company with the track replaced by Harry Bull with Danny Rayment promoted to deputy. ^[5]

In 2015 the track resurrected the original classic Gold Collar competition and the Guys and Dolls. ^[6]

Achievements

Dinky Luckhurst trained Breeks Rocket to Grand National success in 1988 and eight years later Dynamic Display repeated the achievement for Barry O’Sullivan. Pure Patches won the 1998 Gold Collar and also made the 1999 English Greyhound Derby final. Two consecutive Cesarewitch wins in 1999 & 2000 by Bubbly Prince and Lady Jean kept the track in the limelight and Haughty Ted won the Gold Collar in 2001 for Dinky Luckhurst.

Another Grand National win by the Gemma Davidson trained Plane Daddy continued Crayford’s success with hurdle racing and Lorraine Sams introduced a greyhound to the industry in 2006 called Spiridon Louis. The black and white dog would become the 2007 Greyhound of the year after winning the St Leger, TV Trophy and Regency.

References

External links

• Official site
• British Greyhound Racing Board
• Crayford Live