CLAPTON GREYHOUND STADIUM

This site is not an official website for the track shown here and is neither approved or endorsed by the stadium. I am indebted to Richard English for helping to construct this page.

The first greyhound meeting to be held at Clapton was on 7th April 1928 when racing was managed by Clapton Stadium Ltd.. By this time London already could boast of 3 other greyhound circuits.The Clapton track was situated at 0° 2' W 51° 33' N and operated under NGRC rules. It was a very fast, circular course with circumference 400 yards and Scott McGee hare, and was ideal for hosting the Scurry Gold Cup over the sprint distance of 400 yards, an event which was first run in 1928. It was a very popular venue and in 1931 was racing on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings starting at 8 pm. There was a fully licensed Members Club with annual subscription of just 5 shillings. The races were run over 400 yards, 550 yards and 700 yards. The principal races, apart from the Scurry Gold Cup, were the National Open Hurdles over 550 yards, the Metropolitan Cup also over 550 yards, the London Cup over 550 ayrds and the Orient Cup over 550 yards.

Clapton 1933a.JPG (5819 bytes)Clapton 1934a.JPG (7328 bytes)Clapton 1932AW.JPG (23426 bytes)
HG13.JPG (31286 bytes)HG14.JPG (27094 bytes)HG15.JPG (30717 bytes)

On 1st July 1961 the English Derby winner of that year, Palms Printer, won over 366 metres in a time of 22.63 secs.

Despite being a very popular track it suffered takeover bids and shut its doors for the final time on 1st January 1974.

HG16.JPG (31281 bytes)HG17.JPG (33452 bytes) HG18.JPG (29341 bytes)

Track Records, as of 1928, are shown below together with an indication of how fast the time is in comparison to other tracks, both for currently open and defunct tracks, in the UK. Ratings are between 0 and 100, where 100 is an extremely fast time and reflects the speed of the track, tightness of the circuit and quality of greyhound visiting the tracks. I am extremely grateful to Tony Nash for providing the data.
SPRINT (up to 385m) STANDARD (386-549m) DISTANCE (550-699m) EXTENDED (700-999m)
Clapton Track Records at a snapshot in time:-
SPRINT 400 yards Cruiseline Boy 24.27 secs Rating 1
STANDARD 550 yards Ruddy Bill 33.80 secs Rating 1
Track Records as of 1947
SPRINT 400 yards Return Fare II 22.89 secs Rating 6 15th July 1939
STANDARD 550 yards Blackwater Cutlet 31.80 secs Rating 4 2nd October 1943
Track Records as of 1971
SPRINT 400 yards Don’t Gamble 22.29 secs Rating 31
STANDARD 550 yards Prince Chancer 31.76 secs Rating 5

I am grateful to Jon Seddon for the following link to a map showing the whereabouts of the old track
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html?txtXCoord=535748&txtYCoord=186158
This section gives a comprehensive picture of the badges produced by the track throughout the ages, but only provides the briefest of glimpses of its history. For those wishing to undertake further research we can recommend a visit to

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwgreyhoundd-21 where further reading can be undertaken.
Clapton 1933RE.JPG (18954 bytes)Clapton 1934GC2.JPG (20362 bytes)Clapton 1933GC2.JPG (39084 bytes)Clapton 1934GC.JPG (35746 bytes)
Clapton 1933kt.JPG (5936 bytes)Clapton 1933GC.JPG (24216 bytes)Clapton 1935RE.JPG (26947 bytes)Clapton 1936RE.JPG (23897 bytes)
Clapton 1936KT.JPG (23142 bytes)Clapton 1937RE.JPG (27468 bytes)Clapton 1938.JPG (26941 bytes)Clapton 1938RE.JPG (26248 bytes)

If you have rare Clapton badges and artefacts for sale then email johnslusar@fsmail.net