Track facts

The stadium in Fengate, less than a mile from the city centre, opened as a greyhound racing venue in October, 1930. Here are some facts about the stadium and how it has become the success it is today…

A family affair

• The development and running of Peterborough Greyhound Stadium is a strong family affair.
• The Perkins family became involved in the ownership and development in 1945, when it was bought by Reg Perkins (father of Rex and David; grandfather of Richard and Rob), and George Ellingworth.
• At that time, two strong men turning the pedals of an upturned bike pulled the hare round the track.
• Reg Perkins took complete control when George Ellingworth died. Reg retired in 1977. Richard and Rob Perkins have now taken on the major operational responsibilities.
• In 1982, the development programme was started with the installation of an electric Microtote.
• Rex Perkins, Reg’s son, started work at the stadium when he was 17. He later became a City and County Councillor and was Mayor of Peterborough from 1987-1988. Rex was also a magistrate until retiring in 2000.
• Rex died in June, 2003, and the extended stadium is dedicated in his memory.
• David Perkins, Reg’s other son, ran the family’s haulage and farming interests until 1986, when he moved to the stadium to join in work on the expansion plans with Rex.
• David’s wife Margaret works in the administration.
• Richard (Rex’s son) is Operations Director and Rob (David’s son) is Technical Director.
• The stadium employs over 250 people from catering and bar staff, tote operators, kennel services and administration staff and sales and marketing personnel.

The stadium

• The stadium is designed by local architects T E Titman Associates and the first phase was built as the stadium entered the 1990s with 600 seats at tables, all with a view of the whole track. The stadium is air-conditioned and has a specially made carpet with a greyhound motif.
• 200 of the seats in the first phase to be built were in the raceview restaurant, and 400 in the unreserved section, with the Rumblin Tum fast-food servery.
• In the summer of 2003, a £3 million extension increased the length of the stadium from 301 feet to 518 feet. Total seating at the raceview tables increased to nearly 1,000, with 400 in the raceview restaurant, 100 in two corporate dining areas and more than 500 in the unreserved section of the stadium.
• An increasing demand prompted creation of the two areas for corporate parties. They are screened by glass partitions, and are self-contained with their own kitchen, bar and toilets.
• A second lift for disabled customers was installed, and tables to take wheelchairs built into the scheme. There is a raised area approached by a ramp for wheelchairs in front of the stadium.
• Two kitchens with state of the art equipment serve the raceview restaurant and corporate dining areas. They are capable of cooking up to 500 meals in 1½ hours! A fast food servery in the unreserved section serves 50,000 meals a year.
• The stadium has eight licensed bars and a cafeteria. The bars, sell more than a quarter of a million pints of beer each year.
• Further development is planned so watch this space!

Car park expansion

From November 2007 our new car park extension and new entrance will be completed, allowing easier access to the stadium through a new private road. For the first time the true scale of the stadium can be realised as the entrance allows superb views from a central position.

Wheelchair access and facilities

A new viewing area for wheelchair users was completed in October 2008 within the general seating area of the stadium together with special facilities throughout three spectator areas and a second lift.This complements our existing lift, wheelchairaccessibletables andoutside terracedraised viewing areain front of the grandstand.

Radio link for tote bets

• Tote windows are situated throughout the stadium. Tote messengers call at tables in the raceview restaurant and corporate areas with hand held, mini tote machines. They key in details of bets, and these are instantly transmitted to the central tote computer by a bluetooth radio link. A ticket is printed on the spot.
• After each race, the tote messengers call at the tables to pay out winnings immediately. Around two million tote bets are placed each year.
• On the ground floor, with windows facing out on to the trackside, there is a function room available for sales meetings, training sessions and conferences. It accommodates up to 40 at tables, or up to 100 with chairs laid out theatre-style.

Air-conditioned kennels

• There are 86 air-conditioned kennels under the stadium.
• The air-management system is arranged to allow good ventilation with the door on each kennel designed to move air from ground level out through the perforated ceiling.
• There is a viewing gallery alongside the racing paddock and kennels so that the public can watch the greyhounds being weighed and checked by the vet and then prepared for racing.
• Greyhounds taking part in a meeting have to complete their inspection and be in the kennels at least 45 minutes before their race so that they have time to recover from their journey to the stadium and get acclimatised.

All-weather circuit

• The circumference of the racing circuit is 370 meters. It is 6.5 metres wide on the straights and 5 metres wide on the bends.
• The surface slopes towards the inside of the track with a gradient of two degrees on the straights, increasing gradually to four, six and then eight degrees as the greyhounds approach the bends. This eases the greyhound into the bends and also allows better drainage for consistent going.
• The racing circuit is constituted of silicon sand. To prevent freezing, up to 15 tons of salt are used during the winter months. When there is no rain, the track is watered to maintain moisture.
• The majority of races are over 420 metres (Peterborough Derby distance). There is a standard long distance of 605 metres, and a sprint trip of 235 metres. There is a marathon distance of 790 metres and the rarely used 975-metre distance.
• The outside Sumner hare was replaced by a Swaffham-McGee type hare in 1999.
• Lighting, installed at the same time as the Swaffham-McGee hare, was designed by Phillips Lighting. There are seven 15-metre posts with five to six lights on each post. Each light emits 2kw giving 500 lux anywhere on the track. The high level of lighting aids safety for the greyhounds and better viewing for the public.

Closed by fire

• The stadium was severely damaged by fire, which spread from an adjoining warehouse, on March 24, 1999.
• Work started immediately on repairs and refurbishment, but there was no racing for six months.
• Trials were restarted on Monday, August 9, 1999, and racing resumed on Tuesday, September 21, 1999.

Racing and Publishing

• The track is affiliated to the National Greyhound Racing Club, and there is racing under the NGRC rules on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Doors open at 6.30 pm and first race at 7.30 pm.
• The race management team put together the four nights racing each week throughout the year. There are some 2,700 races involving just over 16,000 greyhounds.
• On Monday and Thursday mornings the team runs trial sessions when between 100 and 200 greyhounds each week are put through their paces to see if they are able to qualify to compete at the stadium.
• Around 80 trainers provide the stadium with racing greyhounds, travelling from kennels spread over a 100-mile radius of the stadium.
• The track has its own publishing operation to serve the four meetings. Each week, they set up the records of nearly 350 greyhounds and print 4,000 24-page raceform programmes.

Seven major open events

• The stadium stages seven of the leading major open competitions during the year.
• They are the Peterborough Derby (a Grade 1 event), the Puppy Derby (with the Final shown live on Sky TV), the Peterborough Marathon, Peterborough Cesarewitch, Puppy Cesarewitch, and Fengate Collar. The Veterans’ Derby, was introduced to the calendar in 2003 with £5,000 in prize money – the biggest for any race of its kind in the UK.
• (Footnote: The name Cesarewitch entered British racing in 1839 when the horse race was named after the then Russian Prince Cesarewitch. He later became Tsar Alexander II of Russia. Cesarewitch was the name given to the eldest son of each Tsar.)

Website

• The stadium website was launched in the 1990s.
• A revamp was started in August, 2004.
• December 1st 2007: website re-brand by Titman Firth – Graphic Design & New Media providing better functionality, customer benefits and money saving offers, more in-depth content and user friendly design. Development is ongoing.

For further information please call 01733 29 69 39 Mon - Fri 10am - 5pm or email info@peterboroughgreyhounds.com.

All details are correct as at February 2012, but are subject to change without notice.