As such it makes sense that the greyhound authorities should strive to create a programme of races designed to cater to all abilities and distance preferences. Some dogs are all about speed and seen to best effect over shorter distances, whilst other stamina-laden performers may be too slow for a standard race, but really come into their own over longer distances. Much like horses, the greyhound population consists of a range of different types of runners. Types of Race: It’s As Easy as A, B… D… H Here we take a look at exactly what this annotation signifies, beginning with the letters. When glancing through the card of a greyhound meeting, alongside the race times punters will find an array of these letter/number combinations, for example A1, A4, B2, S5 and so on. So how does it all work? Essentially greyhound grades consist of two elements: a letter which refers to the type of race, and a number which reflects the ability of the dogs competing. One point to note here is that unlike in horse racing, where runners regularly compete at different courses from one race to another, in greyhound racing all dogs will be attached to a specific track, doing the vast majority of their racing at that venue unless travelling for an Open Race (more on which later). Falling under the overall umbrella of the sport’s governing body, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), each of the UK’s 20 officially registered tracks employ a “grader” to assess the ability of the dogs who perform at that track. Much like in the “sport of kings” however – which features horses of a wide range of abilities – all greyhounds are not created equally, be that in terms of overall talent, or the type of race in which they may perform to best effect.Īs such, what is needed is a grading system aimed at grouping dogs of similar abilities together, in order to create competitive, exciting action. All told, it is a sport that is certainly more uniform than the wide array of courses and kaleidoscopic racing silks witnessed in horse racing for example. All races do after all take place on a sand surface on an outdoor oval track and – at least in the UK and Ireland – all feature six dogs wearing uniform jackets: red for number 1, blue for 2, white for 3, black for 4, orange for 5 and black and white stripes for 6. Those unfamiliar with the sport of greyhound racing could easily be forgiven for thinking that any given race is much the same as another.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |