James Stanley Biss known as Stan (1892–1952) was a leading English

greyhound trainer A greyhound trainer is a person who trains Greyhound, greyhounds for Greyhound racing, racing. This involves exercising, feeding, and grooming them in addition to keeping the greyhound in race condition to enable the greyhound to race to the best o ...

. He was a seven times winner of the Oaks in addition to winning the Scottish Greyhound Derby and

Welsh Greyhound Derby The Welsh Greyhound Derby was a former classic greyhound competition held in Wales. It was held at the White City Stadium in Cardiff from 1928 to 1937. After the closure of this stadium the race switched to the Cardiff Arms Park from 1945 unti ...

Early life

Biss spent his childhood living at the Queens Head public house in Waltham Abbey before becoming an Assurance Agent. In 1917 he joined the Navy and Royal Air Force as a Corporal mechanic. He married Agnes Oyler in 1923.

Racing career

Biss was one of the original trainers at Wimbledon Stadium when the stadium opened in 1928 during the pioneer years of oval racing. In 1929 Biss trained out of Burhill Kennels and was in charge of some of the leading greyhounds in the country which included Bradshaw Fold and Queen of the Suir. He also helped fellow Burhill trainer Sidney Orton and the Kempton family acquire the legendary Mick The Miller. During 1930 he joined

West Ham Stadium West Ham Stadium was a stadium that existed between 1928 and 1972 in Custom House, in East London (it was in the County Borough of West Ham, in the county of Essex, at the time of the stadium's construction). The stadium was built in 1928 on Pri ...

, the same year that Bradshaw Fold finished second to Mick The Miller in the

1930 English Greyhound Derby The 1930 Greyhound Derby took place during June with the final being held on 28 June 1930 at White City Stadium. The winner Mick the Miller received a first prize of £1,480. Final result At White City (over 525 yards): Distances 3, 3¼, ...

final. One month later, in July he trained Captured Half when winning the Scottish Derby and Faithful Kitty claimed the Oaks in August. His kennels suffered a major fire in 1931 which killed three greyhounds including a leading runner called Gone For Sure. Biss was regarded as one of the leading trainers in the country and continued to train major race winners, including Queen of the Suir (Oaks 1932 and 1933), Flying Wedge (

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handica ...

1937) and Brave Queen (Oaks 1937). Lutwyche also reached the

1933 English Greyhound Derby The 1933 Greyhound Derby took place during June with the final being held on 25 June 1933 at White City Stadium. The winner Future Cutlet received a first prize of £1,050 in front of an attendance of 70,000. Both Future Cutlet and Roaving Loafer ...

final. In 1939 Biss fell afoul of the racing authorities receiving a suspension and he left West Ham. With the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

racing in London became fractured, Biss concentrated on his business of poultry farming on his Waltham Cross Farm but did take out a private trainers licence after being reinstated. After the war Biss joined

Clapton Stadium The Clapton Stadium, also known as Millfields Road, was a football ground and greyhound racing stadium in the Lower Clapton area of London. History The stadium was originally named Whittles Athletic Ground and was mostly used for whippet racin ...

and in 1946 steered Celtic Chief through to the Derby final, the same year in which Dumbles Maid won a fifth Oaks for Biss. In 1947 Rimmells Black won the

Scurry Gold Cup The Scurry Gold Cup is an original classic greyhound competition currently run at Perry Barr Stadium. It was run at Clapton Stadium from 1928 until its closure in 1973. The event moved to Slough Stadium in 1974 which consequently closed in 1 ...

and Laurels, Rio Cepretta won the Oaks and Patsys Record reached the Derby final. The year was ruined by a serious fire at Waltham Cross Farm that destroyed a building and a mushroom crop. The following year the brilliant Local Interprize ran second in the 1948 Derby and Biss won five classic races the same year, arguably his greatest year as a trainer.

Retirement and death

Biss retired in 1951 handing the Denver Lodge kennels to head girl Pam Heasman, he died in 1952 after suffering a stroke.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biss, Stan British greyhound racing trainers 1892 births 1952 deaths