Cardiff Greyhounds was the

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...

operation held at

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park (), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily a rugby union stadium, and also has a bowling green. It is situated in Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. The Arms Park was host to the 1958 British Empire and Common ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

from 1927 to 1977. It is not to be confused with the greyhound racing held from 1928 to 1937 at the

White City Stadium, Cardiff The White City Stadium, officially known as the Sloper Road Stadium, and colloquially known as Welsh White City Stadium or Ninian Stadium, was a former greyhound racing and motorcycle speedway stadium, on Sloper Road in the Grangetown area of ...

Origins and opening

To assist with maintenance of the site, a greyhound track was built around the rugby pitch in 1927. The first meeting was held on 7 April 1928.

Pre war history

The Arms Park (Cardiff) Greyhound Racing Company Limited signed a 50-year

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

in 1937, with Cardiff Athletic Club (the owners of the Arms Park) and having no rights to break the agreement or to review the rental until 50 years expired. The circumference of the track was a large 452 yards with long straights of 160 yards. An 'Outside Sumner' hare was used and race distances consisted of 300, 500, 525 and 700 yards. The kennel facilities were at nearby

Cefn Mably Cefn Mably () is a district located approximately 6 miles north of Cardiff city centre and 5 miles south-east of Caerphilly. It's mostly within the city and county of Cardiff but is also partly within the Caerphilly County Borough. Notable Buil ...

St Mellons St Mellons () is a district and suburb of eastern Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Prior to 1996 St Mellons was the name given to the community largely north of Newport Road (B4487) which included the old St Mellons village. After 1996 the o ...

and the leading event was the Glamorgan Cup held over 500 yards. 1991 In 1932 a notable greyhound called Beef Cutlet made his debut at the track. Beef Cutlet won the Glamorgan Cup and set a new track record, in 28.41 seconds. His Waterhall kennels based trainer John Hegarty would later become a Racing Manager at the track. In 1937 the

Greyhound Racing Association The Greyhound Racing Association was a UK-based private company founded in 1925 and existed until 2019. It was involved in the management of sports venues, notably greyhound racing stadia. The GRA was responsible for introducing Greyhound racing ...

closed the nearby White City stadium, leaving the Arms Park as the sole Cardiff venue. John Jolliffe was Racing Manager here in 1937 arriving from

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

before he secured the Racing Manager's position at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

Post war history

After the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

the

Welsh Greyhound Derby The Welsh Greyhound Derby was a former classic greyhound competition held in Wales. History The competition was held at the White City Stadium, Cardiff, White City Stadium in Cardiff from 1928 to 1937. The competition was sometimes run as a ...

was transferred to the Arms Park from White City. This was one of the three competitions that formed the triple crown along with the

English Greyhound Derby The English Greyhound Derby is the most prestigious race on the British Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing calendar, with a history stretching back to 1927. It was first held at White City Stadium, but moved to Wimbledon ...

and

Scottish Greyhound Derby The Scottish Greyhound Derby was an original classic greyhound competition held from 1928 to 2019, at Carntyne Stadium and then Shawfield Stadium. History The competition was introduced at Carntyne Stadium in 1928. It was held until 1968 at ...

. The track continued to host the race annually. Racing was held on Monday and Saturday evenings. The greyhound company introduced floodlights in 1958 which upset the rugby fans. The Welsh Derby was won by the likes of Trev's Perfection (who completed the Triple Crown in 1947), Local Interprize, Ballycurreen Garrett, Ballylanigan Tanist, Endless Gossip, Rushton Mac and Mile Bush Pride in a golden era. The event was so popular that despite the stadium being taken over for the

1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: ''Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad'' 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18 to 26 July 1958. It was the sixth edition of what would come to be known as the Commonwealth Games, the ...

the track was re-laid in time for the Welsh Derby to take place in October. In 1971 the Welsh Greyhound Derby was given 'classic' status. Problems for greyhound racing started after

Glamorgan County Cricket Club Glamorgan County Cricket Club () is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Gla ...

moved out of the cricket ground (known as the north ground) to

Sophia Gardens Sophia Gardens ( ; ) is a public park in Riverside, Cardiff, Wales, on the west bank of the River Taff. International test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestig ...

in 1966. The north ground was subsequently demolished and a new rugby union stadium built in its place for

Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club () is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after which relocating to Ca ...

, who would move out of the Arms Park because Cardiff Athletic Club had transferred the freehold of the Arms Park (south ground) to the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; ) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, overseeing 320 member clu ...

in July 1968. This still left a greyhound track around the Arms Park but despite the Welsh Derby gaining classic status there was no place for greyhound racing when the plans for the new

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

were drawn up on the site in 1977 by the Cardiff City Council. The council had taken less than ten minutes to reject a plan to switch greyhound racing to nearby

Maindy Stadium Maindy Centre (, formerly known as Maindy Stadium, now also known as Maindy Pool and Cycle Track) is a velodrome and indoor swimming pool facility in the Maindy area of Cardiff, Wales. The velodrome was used in the 1958 British Empire and Common ...

Closure

The last Welsh Greyhound Derby was on 9 July. The last meeting was held on 30 July 1977 which attracted just 1,128 greyhound fans who witnessed Lillyput Queen, owned by Cardiff butcher Malcolm Davies and trained by Freddie Goodman, win the last race. After the closure, greyhound racing in Wales remained on only three flapping (unlicensed) tracks,

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, Bedwellty Greyhound Track and

Ystrad Mynach Ystrad Mynach is a town in the Rhymney Valley in the Caerphilly County Borough, within the ancient county of Glamorgan, Wales, and is north of the town of Caerphilly. The urban area had a population of 19,204 in 2011. Before the Industrial Revo ...

. Harry George secretary of Greyhound Company Cardiff failed in a bid for

Oxford Stadium Oxford Stadium is a Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing and Motorcycle speedway, speedway venue in Oxford, located in Sandy Lane, Cowley, Oxford, Cowley. As of 2024, Greyhound races are held on Monday, Friday and Saturday ...

following Cardiff's closure.

Competitions

*Glamorgan Cup

Track records

References

{{UK & Irish greyhound competitions Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Greyhound racing in Wales 1927 establishments in Wales Sports venues completed in 1927 Sports venues demolished in 1977 Sport in Cardiff 1977 disestablishments in Wales