Cardiff Greyhound Stadium

CARDIFF 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 the scans of badges on this page.

As is customary, Greyhound racing is followed by Speedway racing, and the first recorded greyhound meeting at the White City Stadium in Cardiff on Sloper Road was in 1927. Cardiff has seen greyhound racing at a number of venues, notably at the Arms Park and Cardiff White City. The White City was the first to hold meetings, with the 1927 meeting making it one of the earliest. Shortly afterwards the Arms Park track was opened around the perimeter of the famous Rugby pitch. However, as Tony Nash kindly informs me, Mick the Miller claimed the Welsh Derby at the White City track in August 1930 in the then World Record time of 29.55. A full list of Welsh Derby winners is shown below.

The 1928 Welsh Grand National was won by Cormorant, whilst Firework was to claim the runners up spot on two separate occasions in 1929 and 1931. The names of further Welsh Grand National winners for inclusion on this site would be welcomed.

1928 Welsh Grand National Final
In 1928 Cormorant went through the five rounds of the competition unbeaten. He was still 6/4 joint favourite in the Final along with Carpio. The result in the Final was identical to the English Grand National, held at London White City just 2 months earlier. In Cardiff the winning distance was a length and a half, whilst in London it was only a neck.
1st Cormorant 1 ½ lengths 29.86 secs
2nd Carpio 28.95 secs
3rd Douro

1929 Welsh Grand National Final
The winner, Highlander, followed an up and down path through the event. In the First Round he was a well beaten second, recording only 31.20 secs, but he bounced back in the Semi-Final to win in 29.70.
1st Highlander 29.52 secs
2nd Muskey
3rd Mazidore

The track closed at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.

Track Records, as of December 1936, 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 grateful to Tony Nash for providing the data.
SPRINTS (up to 385m) STANDARD (386-549m) DISTANCE (550-699m) EXTENDED (700-999m)
Cardiff White City Track Records at a snapshot in time:-
STANDARD 500 yards Rhyn Joan 28.82 secs Rating 4
STANDARD 525 yards Beef Cutlet 29.52 secs Rating 22
DISTANCE 700 yards More Kute 40.77 secs Rating 12
DISTANCE 725 yards Clandown Sweep 41.86 secs Rating 34

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=317054&txtYCoord=174967

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.

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

1928	Cheerful Choice	Mutton Cutlet	Glorious Still	30.73
1929	Back Isle	Spike Island	Giddy Fidler	29.64
1930	Mick The Miller	Glorious Event	Na Boc Lei	29.55
1931	Altamatzin	Wily Warrior	Looks Likely	29.88
1932	Reel Tom	Melksham Tom	Rigadoon	29.87
1933	Beef Cutlet	Mutton Cutlet	Burette	29.56
1934	Valiant Rufus	Red Robin	Hotel Avro	30.08
1936	Bully Ring	Mount Hillary's Boy	Brittas Belle	30.28
1937	Genial Radiance	Johnny Peters	Reymerston	30.15
1945	Shaggy Lass	Castledown Lad	Shaggy Store	29.75
1946	Negro's Lad	Kilrea Lad	Negro's Fire	29.54
1947	Trev's Perfection	Trev's Despatch	Friar Tuck	29.74
1948	Local Interprize	Ruby Border	Mythical Daisy	29.32
1950	Ballycurreen Garrett	Ballycurreen Duke	Ballymakeera Keeper	29.22
1951	Ballyanigan Tanist	Mad Tanist	Fly Dancer	29.95
1952	Endless Gossip	Priceless Border	Narrogar Ann	29.41
1953	Glittering Look	Glittering Smack	Knockrour Favourite	29.39
1955	Rushton Mac	Rushton News	Rushton Panda	29.40
1956	Millie's Valley	Pigalle Wonder	Racing Millie	29.36
1957	Go Doggie Go	Ballymac Ball	Marchioness Minnie	29.38
1958	Our Defence	Defence Leader	Our Violet	30.27
1959	Mile Bush Pride	The Grand Champion	Witching Dancer	28.80
1960	Fitz's Star	Cheerful Chariot	Fitz's Flash	29.48
1961	Oregon Prince	Knock Hill Chieftan	Burleigh's Fancy	28.86
1962	Summerhill Fancy	Knockrour Again	Brandon Princess	29.07
1963	Fairys Chum	Knock Hill Chieftan	Fairy Julia	29.49
1964	Davo's Rink	Koliga	Kansas Time	28.84
1965	Harmony	Mile Bush Pride	Perfect Queen	29.43
1966	I'm Quickest	Skips Choice	Gratton Star	29.59
1968	Swift Half	Hack Up Chieftan	Imperial Astra	29.58
1969	Pallas Joy	Movealong Santa	Happy Now	29.43
1970	Super Gamble	Flash Solar	Big Gamble	29.46
1971	Spectre's Dream	Spectre II	Jockey's Dream	29.22
1972	Patricia's Hope	Silver Hope	Patsicia	29.75