Wembley Greyhounds
| Location | Wembley Stadium, London |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°33'20.0"N 0°16'46.8"W |
| Opened | 1927 |
| Closed | 1998 |
Wembley Greyhounds was the greyhound racing operation held at Wembley Stadium in London.
After the 1924-25 British Empire Exhibition Wembley Stadium was in liquidation before eventually being purchased by Arthur Elvin. For the stadium to survive into the future it required much needed revenue and it was greyhound racing that provided it.
The first meeting was held on 10 December 1927 when 70,000 people witnessed the first ever winner called Spin claim the Empire Stakes over 525 yards. The Director of Racing and Racing Manager was Captain Arthur Brice, he was well known as the judge for the Waterloo Cup.
In 1928 the stadium introduced a major competition called the St Leger which became one of the most prominent classic races in the greyhound racing calendar ranking only lower than the English Greyhound Derby. The first ever running in 1928 was won by a local hound by the name of Burletta trained by Alf Mulliner. Over the following decades Wembley would become unrivalled in terms of major competition success and at times become almost dominant. Despite the success it was never seen as the spiritual home of greyhound racing because the White City Stadium which hosted the Derby took this honour and even after the closure of White City it was Walthamstow Stadium that took over the mantle.
Wembley attracted all of the sports greatest greyhounds and introduced further events called the Coronation Stakes in 1928 for bitches only, the Trafalgar Cup which started in 1929 and was as significant an event for puppies as was the Puppy Derby at the time, the Wembley Gold Cup in 1929, the Wembley Spring Cup in 1930 and the Wembley Summer Cup in 1937.
Mick the Miller won the 1930 Wembley Spring Stakes defeating a greyhound called Swashbuckler by a short head, Swashbuckler had won by 20 lengths in a race on the opening night and held five track records over all distances between 1928 and 1929. Mick the Miller successfully defended his title in 1931 culminating in a track record performance in the final and then claimed the St Leger later in the year.
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