Greyhound racing

Greyhound racing is a sport which involves the racing of greyhound dogs. The
dogs chase after an artificial hare on a track until they arrive at the
finish line. The one which arrives first is the winner.

Modern greyhound racing has its origins in coursing. The first recorded
attempt at racing greyhounds on a track was made at Hendon in 1876, but this
experiment did not develop. The sport emerged in its recognizable modern
form, featuring circular or oval tracks, an artificial hare as quarry and
on-course betting, in the United States during the 1920s. In 1926, it was
introduced to Britain by an American, Charles Munn, in association with
Major Lyne-Dixon, a key figure in coursing, and Brigadier-General Critchley.
They launched the Greyhound Racing Association, and held the first British
meeting at Manchester's Belle Vue. The sport was successful in cities and
town throughout the U.K. - by the end of 1927, there were forty tracks
operating. The sport was particularly attractive to predominantly male
working-class audiences, for whom the urban locations of the tracks and the
evening times of the meetings were accessible, and to patrons and owners
from various social backgrounds. Betting has always been a key ingredient of
greyhound racing, both through on-course bookmakers and the totalizator,
first introduced in 1930. Like horse racing, it is popular to bet on the
greyhound races as a form of parimutuel gambling.

In common with many other sports, greyhound racing enjoyed its highest
attendances just after the Second World War - for example, there were 34
million paying spectators in 1946. The sport experienced a decline from the
early 1960s, when the 1960 Betting and Gaming Act permitted off-course cash
betting, although sponsorship, limited television coverage and the later
abolition of on-course betting tax have partially offset this decline.

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