Greyhound Racing Association

The Greyhound Racing Association (GRA, now GRA Acquisition) is a UK-based private company founded in 1925 and involved in the management of sports venues, notably greyhound racing stadia (despite its name, it is not involved in the administration of greyhound racing - that is the responsibility of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain). The company now trades as GRA Acquisition following the sale of the GRA by parent company Wembley plc in 2005.

As of 2016, the GRA Acquisition operated four stadia:

Greyhound racing was developed from coursing in 18th-century Britain. The first official coursing club was the Swaffham Coursing Society in Norfolk, England, which put on its first event in 1776.

Modern greyhound racing was effectively developed by Owen Patrick Smith, the chamber of commerce director in Hot Springs, South Dakota in the early years of the 20th century. He had been involved in organising local coursing events but did not like the sport, which he felt was inhumane. He began to look for a way to make the sport less bloody by using an artificial lure.

After much trial and error, Smith attracted investors and perfected an artificial lure system in 1912. His tracks allowed for six greyhounds to race at a time, and were circular instead of straight. Although it took some time for the concept to be fully developed and put into practice, by the 1920s, his greyhound racing tracks were spread across the USA and attracted thousands of visitors.

Modern greyhound racing was developed in England by the GRA. American businessman Charles A. Munn had secured the rights from Smith for artificial-lure racing in England in the early 1920s. With three others - Brigadier-General Alfred Critchley, a Canadian-born World War I flying veteran, Major L Lyne Dixson, a noted coursing judge; and Sir William Gentle, a retired chief constable - he formed the Greyhound Racing Association Trust Ltd in August 1925. Although Gentle was the first company chairman, it was Critchley who took control of the company as managing director, and provided the energy and vision to drive it forward. The other directors were Robert Grant Jr., Francis S Gentle, F A Lumley, H Haworth Hardman and C A Munn.

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