By Art Wilson (veteran kennel owner) 1962 The Greyhound Racing Record
We do not know the beginning of greyhound breeding, but treatise by enophon on the greyhound, written about 2300 years ago, stated that at the invasion of Britain, by Julius Caesar, the Britain's had a fine breed of dogs of the chase. And a vase was dug up a Crostopitum, which is close to the Roman Wall, and the greyhounds on it are of the fine type of our breed today (other than they were smaller than the greyhound racing today).
No doubt they have become larger since the time of Julius Caesar for in registrations around 1850 stating the weights of the better winning dogs, the weight of greyhounds to date has advanced approximately ten pounds.
The greyhound is the oldest breed of dog of which we have authentic data, and the only breed of dog mentioned in the Old Testament (Proverbs 30:31), Solomon includes a greyhound, the other three being a lion, a he-goat, and a King against whom there is no rising up.
The first detailed description of a greyhound was published in 1941 in the Rhyming description:
The head like a snake/The neck like a drake/The foot like a cat/The tail like a rat/The side like a bream/The back like a beam.
This description is still considered adequate for the good points of a greyhound by present day breeders.
There are different opinions on the origin of the name "Greyhound." Some claim it came from Greek Hound, because of much dog breeding in the Grecian Empire, and the greyhound type was most important in the country. Others trace it from Latin "Gradus" (degree), "occupying the highest place amongst all dogs." Some claim the name came from "Gaze," because a greyhound hunts more by sight than scent.
In the early British records there was a law that a greyhound was not to be owned by any person "inferior to a gentleman." Queen Elizabeth I was particularly fond of coursing and caused the first rules of the sport to be drawn up. The early days of coursing in England attracted the aristocracy and the wealthy and the nobles owned many of the dogs.
One of the earliest coursing clubs was founded by Lord Craven in 1780. The Altcar Coursing Club was established in 1825 by Viscount Sefton on his father's estate, where the English Waterloo Cup, the greatest coursing event in the world, has been held since 1836.
Greyhound breeding's can be traced to the 17th century and England was the first country to compile registrations. Our stud books are affiliated with Ireland, England and Australian stud books making it possible to consult volumes carefully compiled. First registrations of greyhounds in this country were about 1885.
The middle west and south west are the breeding grounds of America, where greyhounds were mostly imported from England into this section of the country over 80 years ago. The English Waterloo Cup has been run since 1836 to date. Red is the outstanding color of winners of English Waterloos, with black greyhounds second in winners and fawn and brindles almost the same number. Although it was after 50 years of running of the English Waterloo Cup before a brindle dog won, the brindle dogs have had the most success of late. One blue dog won the English Waterloo and that was in 1836.
Coursing events started in this country with the American Field Cup--1886-1892 inclusive; Columbus Cup 1893; American Field Cup 1894; National Waterloo Cup 1895 to present time. National Fall Futurity--1906 to date. National Spring Futurity--1925 to date. National Fall Sapling--1926 to date. National Spring Sapling--1926 to date.
Coursing is one of the most ancient of field sports and the records of it and reference to it are found in literature and art covering a period of several hundred years. There are carefully drawn sets of rules governing the sport that have remained practically unchanged for more than a century.
The term formerly covered the general operations of chasing any kind of game with dogs, but in the past hundred years, the term has been applied specifically to the chase of a hare with greyhounds. Coursing parks in this country are oval in shape, approximately 600 feet wide and 1200 feet in length.
Two greyhounds (one wearing a red collar and one a white collar for easy identification) at a time compete against each other in pursuing a single hare that is released from a chute passing directly in front of the greyhounds. A slipper at one end of the field releases the dogs to give chase when the hare has advanced toward escapes at the other end of the field and the slipper, in his judgment, figures the dogs will reach the hare after about 200-yard run.
This is known as the run-up, and points are awarded the dog that shows superiority in speed over its opponent in reaching the hare. No points are awarded at this point if the dogs are on even terms, but usually one dog shows superiority to receive from one to three points.
One point is awarded for each turn (diverting the hare at an abrupt angle). The kill is valued at two points, if made straightaway, with no points given if made off the opponent's turn. Kill is not necessary for satisfactory trail. In fact, usually the most satisfactory trails are when the hare escapes.
Coursing rules require hares to be trained over a period of time to acquaint them with the field and escapes. Well-trained hares bring about better coursing along with better slipping (releasing dogs to give chase) and much easier jobs for the three judges to make their decisions. The method of running off a coursing stake is simply a process of elimination to determine the winning dog.
For illustration, in a 16-dog stake the entries are drawn for pairings to determine the dogs meeting each other. The 16 dogs would make eight pairs, which would require eight races to run the stake through the first round. When the eight races have been run, eight of the dogs will be beaten and they race no more in the stake. The eight remaining (or winning dogs of the first round) are paired in order in which they raced before which will make four races--four more dogs being thus eliminated leaving four still to contest.
The last four are paired again making two races, at the end of which only two dogs remain that have not been beaten and these contest for final honors, the one that succeeds being the "winner" and the other is known as the runner-up. One must have an outstanding greyhound properly conditioned to win one of our national coursing stakes when there may be 200 or more entries of the best greyhounds in the country competing. It requires a week of coursing to finish a stake of this size.
The sport of coursing and track racing are so intimately related that without the generations of greyhounds carefully bred to develop their speed and racing instinct, it would be impossible to breed good track dogs. It shows that the continuity of coursing must be maintained to breed successful track dogs, for coursing is the real test to exploit everything that breeding puts into a greyhound -- speed, cleverness, and stamina.
The mating of successful coursing dogs that were also top track dogs often produces the most successful track dogs, rather than mating greyhounds that were only successful on the track.
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