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#1
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Greyhound Memories
White City Catford Leeds Elland Road with football ground just up the road Gosforth (Newcastle) The Stow. Cardiff Wembley 1972 (note the grass track) Harlow Harringay (i used to go every Friday) Hackney Wick. (Saturday mornings in the bookies before tv was on in there..)
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.. The July Festival Tipster Starts Thursday... .. |
#2
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Yes .. Slough was the first track i went to (now gone to the builders) .. then White City and then Walthamstow ..
After that it was Reading and then Oxford .. sad really they've all gone now, but all great memories
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Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here. |
#3
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Here you go Benny...Slough
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.. The July Festival Tipster Starts Thursday... .. |
#4
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The good old days
Bloody hell yea .. That stadium was just on the edge of the town center .
In those days, i was around 22yrs old , me and a mate worked for Corals and we often got phone calls from head office in the afternoon, telling us not to take bets on 'such an such' dog as there had been irregular amounts of money in the shops in the midlands for a dog at Slough that night So , of course off we went to Slough to get a bet on Anyways what was happening was that come race time the bookies would open up their prices on the dog in question .. 6 bookies all in a row would look towards the main bookie (A fellow called 'Nikkie Kikkie') ..He would open at 4/9 and the others would open at 2/5 .. What you're thinking ?? Anyways as the dogs approached the traps all the bookies would follow his lead easing the price out 4/6 and 4/7 BUT only taking one or two small bets .. Then as the hare was running suddenly they all went 2/1 . 3/1, 5/1 7/1 while all the time only taking one or two minimum bets .. There were loads of people trying to get on but only a few got some small bets with them .. Of course we couldn't get on in the rush Of course what was happening was the bookies and trainers knew what was going to win, their money was on in the midlands at SP (6/1) .. The scam was called a 'knockout' and it happened about four times before the police were involved and that was the end of Nikkie Kikkie as a bookie at the track .. It wasn't long after that before the track closed down ... However it was the start of my love of greyhound racing were me and that mate brought a dog from a flapping track for £5 We then got him graded at the then flapping track in Southhall (West London) .... And that was when the real story started ... 'Oh my days' ..gangsters , 'ringers' all sorts .. There was also the time when we took a couple of mates and a lady from work to place the bets all along the line in small amounts .. Yes our dog won and as i'd had a lift there from the lady at work she tool me home but not before stopping in a country house lane and jumping on top of me in the passenger seat and having her evil way with me She was very 'appreciative' towards me for taking her that night Then came the time of us getting warned off, not by the track but by the White City gangsters for putting a ringer in our selves (An open race dog from Oxford) Yes the 'Good Old Days' and as Michael Caine would have said, 'Hang On Lads, I've Had An Idea'
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Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here. Last edited by bennythedip2; November 6th, 2015 at 01:33. |
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