Win at Greyhound Racing
H. Edwards Clarke
This book of 154 pages was originally published in 1974, and the 1991 copy I acquired is the third reprint. The title was reprinted again in 2002.
Despite this title being over forty years old, I'm told it's still the most useful and comprehensive book on the subject of greyhound racing for those who know little about the subject. Allegedly, little has since been written on the subject to surpass it, although that is of course a subjective judgement and something I'm certainly not qualified to agree or disagree with. Bearing in mind the popularity of greyhound racing in the past, over the years it does seem as though there's been relatively little written about the greyhounds, in contrast to that of horse racing and the turf. I suspect that may have something to do with the fact that greyhound racing is very much a "working class" thing, whereas the Sport of Kings is the interest of the middle and upper classes - well, owning, training and racing horses anyway; the gambling bit runs right across the social spectrum. Having said this, at the rear of Win at Greyhound Racing there are nine pages of other greyhound racing related titles listed, that were still available in 1991.
The nine chapters that comprise the critical mass of the book comprise:
"How to assess a greyhound",
"How to access a track",
"How to read a race",
"How to analyse a race",
"How to pick winners on form",
"How to pick winners on fitness",
"How to pick winners on family",
"How to pick winners on class",
"How to bet",
...and I think these probably cover just about everything to point the interested greyhound racing punter in the right direction.
Does it all stack up? I've really no idea. I suspect the number of individuals who are consistent winners with the dogs are few, and of these most will be close to the trade and be made aware of when something such as a dog running under class is in the offing. However, bearing in mind all of the variables that can occur and the bookies twenty percent-ish overround on the prices, it won't take too many mishaps or poor judgement calls with the betting to leave the overall profit and loss account in the red.
Let's face it, greyround racing is on the way out. Between the time I started this site in late 2012 and the time of writing four greyhound tracks across the UK and Ireland have closed for the last time - at Wimbledon, Hall Green in Birmingham, Oxford and Harold Cross in Dublin. Bearing in mind falling attendances, the value of the land the stadiums stand on (some of which are in fairly central city locations) and pressure from animal welfare groups and lobbyists it's inevitable that this trend will continue. Expect more to close in the next ten years as property developers eye up choice locations. In Australia, plans are already underway to ban dog racing in the Australian Capital Territories (ACT, to all intents and purposes the capital city of Canberra) and the ban announced in 2016 in New South Wales, and subsequently reversed by the State Governor, will inevitably come up for a vote again in the next few years.
So there we are then... if you're interested in this particular punt, you've a reducing window to partake and you may need to keep an alternative venue in mind if your nearest, or favourite one, closes the gates for the last time and the land goes under the hammer. If you do, then this book may well be useful as a series of pointers to overcome the bookies' edge.
H.Edwards Clark wrote another four books on greyhound racing; The Modern Greyhound (1949), The Greyhound - Breeding, Rearing And Training (1954), The Greyhound (1967) and The Waterloo Cup (1978).
January 2018.