Competitive, organized sports in which a special breed of dog, the greyhound is raced in two different styles of competitions. While the track racing is all about speed around an oval, the coursing competition requires the basing instincts of those dogs, to chase down smaller animals. The second one is banned in most of the countries greyhound racing is happening.

While in many countries greyhound racing is not that competitive and mostly amateur, there are countries like Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Ireland where it is a big part of the gambling industry and can stand up against horse racing. That means that there is quite a big economy around that sport which includes breeding, trading, training, operating racetracks, and gambling. You can place your bets right at the track or you can do it online. It is easy to place dog racing bets on Sportsbet-io website and try your luck with one of the fastest dog breeds on the planet.

Modern dog racing takes place on circular, oval tracks where the dogs chase a mechanical hare around a sand-covered racetrack for a few rounds. In 1919 the first official dog racing track was opened in California, America. This is also where the first official betting on greyhounds took place. In 1926 the oval track and mechanical hare were introduced to Britain and an official Greyhound Racing Association was founded to establish racing sports as an official thing in the United Kingdom. By the end of 1927, there were around forty tracks all over the United Kingdom operating races and betting.

In contrast to horseracing, which was for the upper-middle and upper class of society, dog racing also was for the working class. Nearby urban locations and evening times where the races happened were highly appreciated by the working men and women.

The betting industry around greyhound racing reached its peak right after the second world war with a breathtaking amount of £196,431,430 in total in betting. Sponsorships, television coverage, and low to no taxes on on-course betting were the reason it was so successful those days.

Nowadays commercial and official dog racing with rules, regulatory structures, and so on is happening in seven countries around the world. In other thirteen countries, it takes place but has not reached official and commercial status yet.

The careers of those dogs are not that long and will end around the ages of four to six because at that age the dogs are not that competitive anymore and can not compete against younger ones anymore. Best and most successful dogs are kept for breeding. For the other retired dogs, there are industry-associated adoption groups who working on placing those dogs as pets in new a family. In the last years also the racetracks and associations established their adoption program for retired race dogs, so most of them can spend the rest of their life as a pet in a loving environment.

Share:
Written by Stop The Breaks
Stop The Breaks is an independent music marketing company focused on showcasing independent hip-hop artists. Our goal is to help motivate, inspire and educate independent artists grinding around the world. We provide branding, content marketing, social media, SEO and music promotion services.