Hackney Wick Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium located at Waterden Road in Hackney Wick, London, England.
Origins The site chosen for the stadium was on land known as Hackney Marshes west of the River Lea and on the west side of the Waterden Road. The stadium was constructed from September 1931 until 1932 and cost £70,000 to build and after completion £18,000 in wages had been paid to the builders.
Opening Hackney opened On Friday 8 April 1932 under the affiliation of the British Greyhound Tracks Control Society (BGTCS) the rival to the larger National Greyhound Racing Club. Thirteen thousand people attended the first night and witnessed Marjorie Graves, MP for South Hackney officially open the track. The capacity of the track was put between 30,000 and 50,000 and a totalisator had been installed for the first night. A greyhound called Bullseye became the first ever winner at the track. Although the meeting was advertised as the first official meeting there had been a dress rehearsal two days previously on Wednesday 6 April which attracted 12,000 people.
The company responsible for the project was Hackney Wick Stadium Ltd headed by Managing Director Arthur Gilbert and Racing Manager Fred Whitehead with William Chandler also holding shares in the new company, Chandler would in due course buy the Crooked Billet independent track and turn it into Walthamstow Stadium one year later.
Greyhound racing history
After World War II Hackney Wick and Hendon Greyhound Stadium merged to become the Hackney and Hendon Greyhounds Ltd company. The resident kennels featured six ranges with each able to house up to fifty greyhounds, paddocks sat next to each range with cooking facilities and a veterinary surgeon on site. The kennel fees were 17s 6d for each greyhound.
In 1948, Stanley Pay became the Racing Manager after Fred Whitehead was promoted to Director of Racing for both Hackney and Hendon. Pay was later replaced by Hendon Racing Manager D G Lewis before Michael Marksbecame Racing Manager for three decades until the day the stadium closed. The stadium offered eight buffet and licensed bars during racing held on Thursday and Saturday nights at 7.45pm. The circuit had a circumference of 472 yards and the greyhounds raced behind an 'Outside Sumner' hare system. Trainers in the 1960s included Annetts, Reg Bosley, Brown, Colebrooke, Cox, Paddy Gordon, Hedley and Lionel Maxen.
In the 1970s Mr G.Crookbank the track's chief electrician had invented photoelectric timing gear that would revolutionise the sport. Hand timing would become a thing of the past after Crookbank came up with the idea that a greyhound's race time could be recorded electronically. The invention known as 'Automatic Ray Timing' would remain as the timing method until the advent of modern computer timing. The Hackney sales became a major feature of business throughout the year, these sales became a prominent way for buying and selling greyhounds in London.
In 1969 Park Royal Stadium and New Cross Stadium both closed resulting in the Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service (BAGS) being switched to Hendon and Hackney, the racing image of Hackney would change forever as it became the number one BAGS track. Afternoon meetings were introduced and eventually there would be no evening meetings at the track with the Saturday matinee BAGS replacing the Saturday night.
In 1970 businessman George Walker, brother of boxing champion Billy Walker arranged a reverse takeover of Hackney and Hendon Greyhounds Stadium Ltd. This meant his private company bought a public company and the new merger resulted in a new company called Brent Walker. This resulted in the end for the Hendon Greyhound Stadium because it was sold to make way for the UK's first stand-alone shopping centre on the site that would soon be known as the Brent Cross shopping centre.
It was not until the closure of sister track Hendon that Hackney Wick hosted a competition of note. The Guineas long associated with Park Royal had switched to Hendon in 1969 which in turn now found its way to Hackney. Three years later 'The Lead' was introduced and would also become a valuable addition to the calendar. In 1976 local hound Westmead Champ trained by Pam Heasman reached the final of the English Greyhound Derby and was voted Greyhound of the Year.
Hackney fell out with the NGRC in 1987 when the governing body announced that they would charge £300 to a track staging a BAGS meeting covered by Satellite Information Services (S.I.S) plus ten per cent of the tracks BAGS fees. Hackney refused and Ladbrokes took legal advice over the situation but all BAGS tracks would eventually pay a fee to the NGRC. Another race called the Lincoln was hosted by Hackney from 1986 and in 1988 Minnies Siren trained by Terry Duggan won the BBC Television Trophy. Brent Walker bought William Hill/Mecca from Grand Metropolitan in 1989 and one year later leading trainer John 'Ginger' McGee Sr. joined the track.
Renovation and closure During 1991 it transpired that Brent Walker had amassed debts of £1.2 billion, George Walker was removed from the board and the banker took control of the company's assets. With the bank controlling matters there were numerous rumours about the future of the track. By 1994 the stadium had been acquired by a company called London Stadium Hackney Ltd who were in turn owned by Fleetfoot Racing formed in 1992 by ex-Lloyds broker and racing journalist Robert Parker. Work began on an ambitious project including a £12 million restaurant, leading trainers were recruited and the stadium was rebranded 'The London Stadium'.
At the end of 1994 Robert Parker left the company as its director to be replaced by Stephen Rea. Beset with construction problems and internal disagreements the original £14 million scheme to develop the neglected stadium had run into serious problems. Extra cash was raised by rights issues with companies including Rothschild, Henderson Venture Managers and Samuel Montagu. In October 1995 the new stadium was finally ready offering first-class facilities and significantly high prize money. However, on the reopening night and despite a capacity crowd the stadium went into receivership the same evening. Investigations began and banker, Stephen Welton, was pursued by LWT reporter Trevor Phillips and questioned for the Board's failure to conduct due diligence on a prospective buyer who turned out to be an undischarged bankrupt.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Parker appeared on Roger Cook's ITV's television program The Cook Report and allegations were also made against Stephen Rea. Fleetfoot Racing Ltd had lasted just three years, with the stadium closing on 4 January 1997.
The stadium was left derelict for several years until it was bought by the London Development Agency and demolished in 2003. The site was the location of the London Olympics Media Centre, the main media and broadcasting centre for the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
Speedway history
Speedway opened in 1935 at Hackney Wick Stadium and operated until 1996.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. Stroud: Tempus Publishing The team raced under various names, known as Hackney Wick Wolves, Hackney Hawks, Hackney Kestrels and London Lions. The speedway scenes from the 1933 film Britannia of Billingsgate were shot at the stadium.
See also Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain
Competitions Gymcrack
Guineas
Lead The track introduced the Lead sponsored by William Hill in 1975; at the same time they switched the 1,000 Guineas to a longer distance of 484 metres. YearWinnerBreedingTrainerTimeSP1975 Baffling Bart The Grand Silver - Mosaduva Paddy Milligan (Private)31.79 4/6f1976 Bold Flight Bold Invader – Fantastic Flight P Hawke (Private) 32.27 10/11f1977 Gaily Noble Monalee Champion – Noble Lynn John Coleman (Wembley) 31.81 3/11978 Special AdditionSpecial – Brownsgrove Lass Draper (Sheffield) 31.82 8/11979 Decoy Duke Westmead County – Rip Madam Joe Cobbold Cambridge 31.55 7/11980Democracy Free Speech – Glen Eivers Pat Mullins Cambridge 31.74 6/4f1981 Sugarville Jet Cairnville Jet – Santas Sugar John Honeysett (Crayford) 31.86 10/11f1982 Master Darby Sole Aim – Aglish Pilgrim Jerry Fisher (Reading) 31.72 4/6f1983Legrand Shamrock Sailor – Well Honestly George Curtis (Brighton) 32.12 7/21984 Ballyregan BobBallyheigue Moon – Evening Daisy George Curtis (Brighton) 31.07 4/7f1985 Gabriel Andy Lindas Champion – Gabriel Penny Derek Knight (Brighton) 31.85 4/11986Copper King I'm Slippy - Cleona Ken Reynolds (Monmore) 31.64 15/8f1987 Killouragh ChrisMoreen Rocket – Moree HoneyPete Beaumont (Sheffield) 32.30 15/81988 Bankers Benefit Easy and Slow – Society Girl Adam Jackson (Wembley) 31.88 7/21989 Labana Matthew Matthews World – Labana Queen Geoff De Mulder (Norton Canes) 31.86 1/1f1990Shanavulin BingoMichigan Man – Shanavulin Flash Ernie Gaskin Sr. (Private) 31.58 8/11f1991 Lets All Boogie Carters Lad – Princess Alucard John Coleman (Walthamstow) 32.08 9/41992 Daleys Denis Daleys Gold – Lisnakill Flyer Tom Pett (Canterbury) 31.67 10/11f 1975-1992 (523 metres)
Track records Pre metric records Distance (yards) Greyhound Time Date300 Montforte Louis 16.45 30 July 1965 500 Don Gipsey 27.93 24 April 1948525 Fitzs Bell 29.30 27 June 1963525 Kybo Venture 29.52 1973550 Parish Model 31.16 26 May 1947550 Narrogar Ann 31.09 1949550 Prince of Speed 30.61 21 July 1960565 Kybo Venture 31.60 1973570 Willing Billy 31.98 1970700 Spotted Nice 40.20 1970725 Surprising Paddle 41.3620 July 1963800 Chantilly Lace 45.86 14 April 1960500 H Dollys Prince 28.55 1963550 H Fairyfield Surprise 31.50 20 June 1963
Post metric records Distance (metres) Greyhound Time Date Notes247 Ballygroman Jim 15.17 1986260 Fast Copper 15.52 20 April 1994304 Clear Reason 18.02 1 March 1975400 Danesfort Slippy25.01 26 March 1994440 Jurassic Park 26.70 23 September 1994484 London Spec 29.02 27 March 1976484 Lassa Java 28.86 24 March 1994484 Staplers Jo 28.56 1995Guineas first round523 Drynham Star 31.48 22 February 1975523 Wired To Moon 31.48 10 December 1977523 Sound Wave 31.48 12 January 1980523 Ballyregan Bob 31.0711 December 1984640 Coolmona Road 39.95 22 August 1994683 Millies Corner 42.73 10 November 1983683 Blue Shirt 42.68 11 December 1984683 Ballyregan Bob 42.24 16 November 1985685 Coolmona Road 42.95 15 July 1994669 Mondays Style 41.80 24 October 1974740 Dublin Daisy 46.17 1 January 1976740 Tally Ho Sabrina 45.88 7 April 1980740 Swift Duchess 45.83 21 May 1986825 Winetavern Celt 53.78 12 December 1994909 Smart Decision 58.88 7 April 1994920 Wild Surprise 60.29 7 March 1985920 My Tootsie 59.21 1986400 H Fancy Major 25.44 25 November 1994484 H Westpark Clover 30.28 6 March 1984485 H Kildare Slippy 30.10 20 July 1991485 H Gis A Smile 29.72 7 February 1994523 H Breakaway Slave 32.87 10 April 1982640 H Freewheel Kylo 42.9527 December 1993
External links Hackney Hawks Website Aerial view of Hackney Wick Stadium 1938 UK Running Track Directory Details of the history of the track The Wick was ramshackle, basic beast of a greyhound track ... and all the better for it Article on Betfair.com Bankrupt on the first night - the desperate story of the 'new' Hackney Wick Article on Betfair.com Regeneration came five years too late for much-loved Hackney Wick Article on Betfair.com
References