Although it may fall under the shadow of its more publicised counterpart of horse racing, greyhound racing is still hugely popular. The sport is currently an extremely competitive feature of the UK betting landscape.
However, from looking at greyhound betting sites from Europe to Asia and Africa, there are clear indications that the sport has a big following across the globe. Despite it being seen as a very traditional British sport, the modern form of greyhound racing was developed in America, where the first professional track was opened.
Here we examine the sport of greyhound racing in detail and see why it is still going strong to this day, plus why Ghanaians may fancy getting into this intriguing sport for betting.
What is Greyhound Racing
Greyhounds, which are built for speed are the stars of the show, where the racing action between highly-trained dogs takes place on an oval track. The dogs go into a starting stall and then are released after an electronically controlled mechanical hare has been released.
The mechanical hare, which takes a course on a rail usually on the inside of the racetrack, is there to prompt the dogs into running as fast as they can. It goes too fast to be caught, but it’s a key element of a race nonetheless. Whichever dog gets to the line first, wins.
Why Greyhounds and Hares?
Greyhounds were introduced into America in the 1800s, acquired by farmers to help with the problem of jackrabbits. Before any of that, however, the importance of the greyhound can be found throughout ancient history, from the Egyptians, early Arabian culture and Ancient Greece, Rome and Persia.
The greyhound has long been admired as a figure of chasing and hunting in many cultures. Long back in the annals of English history, there was a law introduced that only greyhounds could be used for hunting by noblemen. Because of that, an exclusive culture of noblemen-only greyhound racing evolved in the country.
The Thrills of Dog Racing
Watching a greyhound in full flight is something special. It’s a thrilling blur of motion as they can get up to 45 mph at a top speed. Greyhounds are, simply put, speed machines of lean muscle and they are the fastest dogs in the world.
Dog racing events are held in different classes. The pinnacle of dog racing in the UK is the Greyhound Derby, where a winner is crowned champion after six rounds of action.
The main levels of greyhound racing are Category One, Two and Three. Those higher-level races are not as common as regular graded racing, however. Graded racing encompasses different styles of greyhound races from hurdle, sprint, staying, standard and more. So bettors can really get a full, varied and exciting experience from dog racing.
Familiar Sights of a Greyhound Race
There are around 20 Greyhound tracks in Britain, from the south coast of Brighton to Romford Stadium in London, and other major cities like Nottingham, Sheffield, Sunderland and Doncaster. If you were to tune into a live stream of greyhound racing then you would see some familiar sights.
The handlers lead the dogs to their assigned traps for the races. After the draw for the race is set, the dog will be assigned a coloured racing vest matching their starting trap. Trap 1, for example, is red, Trap 2 is blue, Trap 3 is white and so on up to Trap 8. That is standard across all greyhound racing, making it easy for bettors to track their dogs.
On-site bookmakers are another common sight. The operators will take bets from the attendees watching an evening of racing, a wonderfully nostalgic nod back to the days when online betting sites weren’t around.
How to Bet on Greyhound Racing
Now anyone wanting to make a bet on greyhound racing doesn’t have to leave their home, thanks to access to greyhound betting sites. A common service of these sites is live streams of dog racing too, which helps bettors around the world enjoy the UK greyhound racing scene.
Statistics and form can be studied for example to try and get a sense of who the winner of a race may be. The draw is all important too, as runners on the inside of a track have an advantage with less distance to cover.
Dog Welfare
We will round off this look at this engaging sport, with a look at dog welfare. The main regulatory body is the Greyhound Board of Great Britain. They do things like perform regular health checks of dogs staying in licensed trainers’ kennels, and that scrutiny goes up when a dog is scheduled to race.
Other things like annual vaccinations and microchipping are part of dog welfare too. Regulations and guidelines are in place and dogs are even looked after when they go into retirement.
