Slough Stadium originally known as the Dolphin Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium in Uxbridge Road, Slough, Berkshire.

Origins and opening George Bennett Sr. a resident and entrepreneur of Slough bought and sold a cinema in Chalvey before purchasing the Dolphin Hotel in Slough in May 1914. The hotel was next door to the Dolphin ground which had hosted cricket, athletics, bowls and football in the nineteenth century. It had been the venue for the first football match between Berkshire and Buckinghamshire on 30 January 1873 and had been the home ground of the Swifts Football Club in the 1870's and 1880's before becoming the home of the Slough football club from 1889.

Bennett decided that the ground required more activity and after watching the new sport of greyhound racing he made the decision to construct a greyhound track around the pitch. Work got underway in 1928 with the stadium taking shape on the east side of the Uxbridge Road and south of the Dolphin Hotel. The south part of the stadium would reach as far as the houses on Dolphin Road.

The opening night was on 26 May 1928 the first ever race at the track. Training kennels were established at the nearby Homelea Farm in Datchet.

Pre war history In March 1929, the stadium was given the name the Dolphin Stadium. Also in 1929, a greyhound called Idle Chief won 16 consecutive races and Bennett continued with his enterprises by introducing a training camp for boxers at his Dolphin hotel which included Tommy Farr, Ben Ford, Jack Doyle, Primo Carnera, Marcel Thil and Midget Wogan.

In 1936, Bennett sold the Dolphin Stadium to Clapton Stadium Company Limited who already controlled Clapton, South Shields and Warrington. H.Garland Wells who was joint vice president of the National Greyhound Racing Society and Clapton Stadium Ltd was instrumental in the company’s decision to purchase the track which they renamed Slough Greyhound Stadium. However, it was still known as the Dolphin Stadium when used for boxing and football events.

The track circumference was 400 yards and the course was described as a handy little track with bends that favour railers (greyhounds nearest the inside rail), a good run-up to the first bend means trap draw has little advantage. seeding did not exist which explains why trap draw had little advantage on a track favouring railers.

There was a training establishment at Sunnymeads, Dedworth in Windsor used solely for Slough greyhounds and principal events included the Easter Cup, Whitsun Cup, Yuletide Cup, Home Counties Cup and Coronation Puppy Championship with the addition of a race called the Dolphin Trophy.

1946-1960 After the war the Buckinghamshire Cup was introduced and totalisator turnover in 1946 was £1,495,881.

S.T.Lucas was the Racing Manager in the 1950s before handing over to John Collins in 1959, the Director of Racing for Clapton Stadium Ltd was E W Godfrey and he also handed over in 1959 to H J Richardson. E Luper and H Luper then took over as the new Managing Directors of the company.

1960s In 1966 the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) purchased New Clapton Stadiums Ltd, the deal included Slough, Clapton, Reading, two training sites with 180 acres and an interest in West Ham Stadium. Under the GRA the trainers responsible for supplying the greyhounds to Slough were Jimmy Jowett, Bill Krailing, Paddy Pierce, Jim Barker, Ron Jeffrey and Jim Sherry, the latter three also supplied Reading. Racing took place on Tuesday and Saturday evenings.

1970s The hare system was an 'Inside Sumner' and amenities included a steak bar, two buffet bars and four licensed bars. In 1971 Slough and Reading changed to the contract trainer system, a policy that many stadia had adopted and three years later in 1974 sister track Clapton closed resulting in the prestigious Classic the Scurry Gold Cup being transferred to Slough.

The 1977 running of the Scurry ended with a three-way battle between two promising newcomers Wired To Moon and Cahurmore Speech and defending champion Xmas Holiday. Cahurmore Speech broke the Slough track record in the semi-finals before finishing runner up to Wired To Moon in the final with Xmas Holiday finishing third. On the way back to the Northaw kennels after the race Adam Jackson's finalist Fiano was killed in a vehicle accident.

Trainer Ted Dickson won the first Classic race for the track after Greenfield Fox won the 1977 Laurels before winning the Pall Mall Stakes. Dickson also trained a fawn dog called Linacre who had four big wins in 1977, the Derby Consolation, Edinburgh Cup, Sussex Cup and Wembley Spring Cup. Dickson was rewarded by being named the Greyhound Trainer of the Year.

1980s Yankee Express secured a hat-trick of Scurry titles in the early 1980s before Slough won the English Greyhound Derby with one of their greyhounds called Tico (trained by Arthur Hitch) in 1986.

Closure In 1987 Slough became the fourth and last track of the 1966 deal to be sold by the GRA to developers. It closed on 21 March 1987 with the last race being won by Ted Dickson's Yellow Crest.

The Scurry Gold Cup moved to Catford and the original Sunnymeads kennels are still used today but the stadium site is a Sainsbury's supermarket.

Competitions Scurry Gold Cup

Buckinghamshire Cup +YearWinnerTrainerTimeSP1946 Glin Lad Paddy Fortune (Wimbledon) 27.03 4-6f1947 Lightfooted Lad N Lloyd (Private) 27.06 11-10f1948 Gatabawn Paddy McEllistrim (Wimbledon) 27.50 100-81949 Captured Dick Jack Harvey (Wembley) 26.95 5-2f1950 Flamenco William Mills (Private) 27.21 6-11952 Wombourne Ted William Mills (Private) 39.66 100-61953 Parkroe Bob (dead-heat) Jack Young (Oxford) 26.94 11-41953 Romantic Crisis (dead-heat)Paddy McEvoy (Private) 26.94 5-2 1955Tax Diablo Leslie Reynolds (Wembley) 26.78 4-6f1956 Little Paddys Choice Jimmy Jowett (Clapton) 27.40 8-11957 Girlies Champ Jimmy Jowett (Clapton) 27.61 5-21958 The Gifts Champion Alf Forman (Park Royal) 26.98 1959 Corvette Bill Gigg (Private) 26.83 9-21960 Cassagh Monarch Reg Webb (Private) 26.02 4-11961 Angel Touch Jimmy Jowett (Clapton) 37.61 1962 Devilabetter Reg Webb (Private) 37.71 1963 Buckwheat Reg Webb -(Private) 37.17 1964 Ivy Hall King Paddy Keane (Clapton) 37.15 1-2f1965Luck Arrow II Peter Collett (Private) 37.28 1966 Woodlawn Barney O'Connor (Walthamstow) 37.10 1967 Loughnore Guest Jimmy Jowett (Clapton) 37.28 1968 Dicks Dilemma Gordon Hodson (White City) 37.72 1969 Jeannies Wonder John Perrin (Private) 37.00 6-4f1970 Albany Grand Wally Ginzel (Private) 36.99 9-41971 Coset Fire 36.53 1972 Adamstown Fire Peter Hawkesley (Harringay) 36.37 11-41973 Ashgrove Tric 37.06 1974 Delroney Leader 37.14 1975 Houghton Girl Barbara Tompkins (Watford) 37.28 1976 Thade Is Out Vernon Ford (Private) 38.49 7-11977 Black Legend Ted Dickson (Slough) 37.87 4-6f1978 Owners Guide Tony Jowett (Slough) 37.57 1979 Full Again 37.33 1980Rikasso Pancho 30.51 1981 Westmead Seal Natalie Savva (Private) 39.95 4-11982 Self Raising C Buzzard (Private) 39.29 12-1 1986Mineola Athena Arthur Hitch (Slough) 39.27 8-1

Track records Pre-metric Distance yards Greyhound Time Date Notes275 Oola Rattler 15.51 1946460 Sallys Chat 25.70 07.11.1961 460 Shamrock Clipper 25.62 17.05.1966 460 Tipper 25.60 05.1969475 Parish Model 26.71 1947640 Jeannies Wonder36.63 1970650 Lucky Arrow II 36.92 07.09.1965 650 Lielow 29.03.1966 650 Quails Glory 36.42 08.09.1970675 Diamond Jim 39.42 1946860 Miss Elegant 49.66 16.07.1963 860 Hiver Whitenose 49.58 1970 880 Boreen Brandy 22.03.1966 880 Gladness 50.97 05.03.1968 460 H Rorys Pleasure 26.57 21.03.1961 475 H Cadet Captain 27.69 1946 Post-metric Distance metres Greyhound Time Date Notes442 Northwood Double 26.74 1978442 Rodeen Jet 26.62 19.06.1985 442 Cahurmore Speech 1977 Scurry Gold Cup Semi-finals593 Owners Guide 37.20 1979807 Westpark Putter 52.13 1978

References