Inside the UK’s last greyhound races as sport is banned after 100 years | UK | News

It’s just before 8pm on a damp Thursday evening and the crowd of around 100 at Valley Greyhounds in Ystrad Mynach are witnessing history unfold. “Four minutes to race time,” announces Mandy Blankley as the queue for hot dogs and burgers dwindles and the spectators head outside, more hopeful than expectant.

The air is thick with cigarette smoke under the floodlights as the dogs prepare themselves in their traps and a silence falls. “Hare is on the move, hare is on the move,” Mandy broadcasts over the loudspeaker as the bright orange strip speeds along the sandy oval track, passing the traps moments before the dogs are released and cries of encouragement echo from the single terrace.

Her husband Lee is operating the hare while she records the finishing times and announces them to a mixture of cheers and groans. Zack’s Rebel crosses the finish line first in 16.4 seconds, prompting a trainer to shout in celebration.

The victorious trainer of the night pockets £90 per race. Mandy takes a moment for a cigarette and a chat.

“It’s a great place,” she shares. “And the dogs really enjoy what they’re doing. You can see that. If they didn’t want to run they wouldn’t run. My husband works here driving the hare and he got me into it.”, reports Wales Online.

Behind the thrill of greyhound racing, there’s more than just excited spectators; there’s technology at play ensuring fairness and precision. “Well it is automated to a degree. But you still have to have someone making sure it’s all working properly. Most of it is technology. Like the ray time which collects the times when they cross the finish line. I take the times from the ray times and I call them out. I love it.”

revealed an insider at the track.

Stay ahead of the curve by subscribing to our vital daily newsletter here. Meanwhile, regular Mark Gibson, who has been a fixture at the races for four decades, tells us how the sport provides an essential escape: “It’s a release,” he admits, beer in hand.

“To get away from your mundane life. The adrenaline you get from watching the dogs is second to none.”

For Gibson, the excitement is addictive: “Once you get into it I suppose it is, to use an old cliche, a bit of a drug. It’s the thrill of the chase isn’t it? I got out of the game for a bit but this track opened on my doorstep and I was hooked again. Now I’ve got three greyhounds. My grandchildren love it too. They’ll tell you everything about the dogs and their form. It’s good for their maths.”

The venue, complete with an oval sand track, clubhouse and kennels, saw local property developer Malcolm Tams invest over £1m before selling it to Essex businessman Dave Barclay in 2022. In the 1960s, Wales boasted more than 10 greyhound racing tracks, but now Valley Greyhounds stands as the last one.

It hosts races on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays weekly, as well as the first Saturday of each month – but its days are numbered. The sport, once dubbed the working man’s pastime by vet Simon Jones, is facing a ban in Wales, nearly a century after the first UK track opened at Belle Vue in Manchester in 1926.

The Welsh Government has announced plans to outlaw the sport as soon as possible, potentially before the Senedd election in 2026. Locals feel they’ve been used as political pawns.

The Welsh Labour group needed the support of another MS to pass its £26bn budget, and their only viable option was to secure the backing of Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds. However, she would only support the budget if a ban on greyhound racing was included in the deal.

Breaking news from the Senedd sees a former social worker and greyhound lover from Wrexham, now acting as the regional MS for mid and west Wales, dragging animal welfare into the spotlight. On February 12, a debate sparked interest after rural affairs minister Huw Irranca-Davies hinted at “looking forward to bringing forward our next steps in the spring”.

Just six days later, on February 18, Jane Hutt dropped a bombshell during a government business announcement in the Senedd: “There are three changes to this week’s business. On today’s agenda there is an oral statement on animal health and welfare.”

Right after, the press was hit with an embargoed notice – a greyhound ban loomed over the statement. Deputy First Minister Mr Irranca-Davies didn’t waste any time, indicating his intent to chase down a ban.

The local greyhound track owner Dave, who always believed in the “massive potential” of Valley Greyhounds and its ability to draw crowds to the Rhymney Valley, may now face a grim future for the venue. He insists that a pre-announcement inkling was non-existent last month, and should the ban hammer down, expects a hefty compensation payout for the premature closure of his establishment.

Malcolm has insisted that the Valley, a staple in Ystrad Mynach since 1975, receives adequate compensation before any changes are made. He revealed, “I sold this for a million in 2022 but I’m still here everyday making sure everything is perfect and making sure future development is going on here. What’s holding it all up at the moment is the uncertainty. We had planning permission to build a community hub here for people to come and have a cup of tea and coffee. But we’ve not been able to build that because of all this hanging over us in terms of the future of the sport. In 2010 I went down to the Senedd and had meetings with them and we came out with a paper called The Better Bet for Greyhounds. We all signed it and 100% of what was in that paper has been carried out.”

He warns that a ban won’t halt greyhound racing in Wales, saying, “It’ll go back to what they used to call flip meetings and they’ll be racing in farmers’ fields. It’d go underground.”

London once boasted 33 tracks; now only Romford remains. Across England, there are just 19 tracks left.

Malcolm comments on the sport’s decline: “What’s happened is where most of the tracks are from years ago they’re generally located on really profitable land in towns and cities and the land value is worth £40m or £50m. The return on the land would be a lot greater than the return on greyhounds. So you have to really love greyhound racing to invest in it and keep it.”

He also noted that the venue is built on a flood plain, which would prevent any building development if the track were to close. Mr Irranca-Davies has informed the BBC that compensation isn’t an “issue we are considering”.

He further stated that ministers aim to engage with the industry and its workers to prevent the site from becoming “derelict”. He added, “The matter has been discussed and debated in the Senedd and has clear cross-party support. Our consultation on a national model for animal welfare, which included questions relating to greyhounds, received over 1,100 responses. In that consultation the question asking for evidence and views on a phased ban found almost two-thirds of respondents were in favour of such a ban.”

Minister for Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths stated: “A petition to ban greyhound racing in Wales received over 35,000 signatures. This sits alongside campaign work by the Cut the Chase coalition, which includes Blue Cross, Dogs Trust, Greyhound Rescue Wales, Hope Rescue, and the RSPCA. We also note what is happening in other countries across the world who are taking steps to ban this activity. As a result I believe that now is the right time to move to ban greyhound racing in Wales. We are proud to be the first nation in the UK to do this.

“A ban will come into force as soon as it is practically possible. However, there is work to be done to ensure the welfare of the dogs currently involved in the industry, as well as the local community and economy.”

However, vet Simon, examining a young greyhound named How’s My Ria, disagreed with the ban. “I’m not against greyhound racing at all,” he said.

“You’ve got an athlete there and it’s what they’re bred to do. They are absolutely fine-tuned to do it. Everything about a greyhound is about speed. You’ve got a nice deep chest with big lungs and a big heart. You’ve got a slim-lined body even to the point their ears are folded back against their head. They’re really impressive animals. Without a doubt most of them enjoy it. Those that don’t enjoy it don’t tend to stay racing.

“I think the ban is rather inappropriate. It’s clearly political. I’m not sure it’s actually that much of a contentious or divisive issue in Wales. I don’t see exactly why they want to ban it because I don’t see lots of people rushing to the Senedd calling for this. It’s the sort of thing that weeks later people will have forgotten about so to me it’s an odd one.

“It is difficult to eliminate all injuries but they do get them and there are occasionally freak incidents like if two dogs collide. But the things we can do, like making sure they’re fully fit prior to racing and making sure the track is in perfect condition, are all covered.”

The news was met with approval by a group of animal welfare charities who have raised concerns about welfare issues including the number of deaths and injuries and the treatment of dogs after their racing careers end. However, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), which oversees the sport, argued that the decision was “nothing to do with greyhound welfare and everything to do with pressure from the extreme animal rights movement”.

In 2023, according to the animal welfare charity Blue Cross, 109 greyhounds died while racing on UK tracks. Another 55 were put down after failing to find new homes post-racing.

Since 2017, over 1,200 dogs have perished at the racetrack.

UK Government culture secretary Lisa Nandy has informed MPs in the Commons that she does not intend to extend the ban on greyhound racing to the rest of the UK, citing her recognition of the “joy” the sport brings and its “economic contribution” to local communities. This comes as New Zealand plans to outlaw the sport by 2026 due to high injury rates among the dogs.

Meanwhile, Welsh plumber and trainer Marcus May, who has been involved in greyhound racing since he was six, travels from Neath to Ystrad Mynach for races following the closure of his local Swansea track in 2009. He shared his deep connection with the sport: “It’s been in my life since I was six,” he says.

“It’s been my family’s life. I don’t know what I’d do without it to be honest. My father who got me into greyhounds died when I was 21 and then my brother died in 2016. After that I’ve suffered from depression and training the dogs has helped me through it massively. Without this I do worry how I’d be. The problem is we’ve all been tarred with the same brush. I’ve always looked after my animals – they mean everything to me and they’re part of the family. They’re not just machines. I’ve got a dog who has hurt his wrist – he’s not broken his wrist but he’s been off since September. It’s not about money. I earn enough plumbing. It’s the love of the dogs and a love of the sport.”

Jan Newcombe, who started rescuing greyhounds after her husband passed away, is experiencing the thrill of the track for the very first time. She has never had the inclination to put down a wager.

“I’m here because I love watching them in their prime,” she shares. “I love watching them run, I love watching them walk. I’m hooked on them.

“To have somewhere like this where people come and celebrate greyhounds is lovely. I’ve just been speaking to an older gentleman who has been coming down here since he was a young man and it really is his life. This is part of what the community is. I shall come back again. You can see by the young people that are here and are naturally happy to be here that interest isn’t dying.

“I don’t know if people have got the wrong impression when they look at greyhound racing from the outside. If you talk to the people here with dogs and people watching there is a real kindness here. Greyhounds are not a dog you can pass off. You have to be so dedicated to look after them. They’re not just racing dogs here. They care about the dogs. They’re not just making money out of them.”