The Story of Kinsley Greyhound Racing Stadium

The UK is home to a number of famous greyhound racing stadiums, but few are as renowned or iconic as the location in Kinsley. Situated between Leeds and Doncaster, this track was built and opened back in 1939, and up to 3,500 spectators have been able to visit and wagers there ever since the end of the Second World War.

During the last 80 years, Kinsley has hosted some incredible meetings and races, whilst in 2008 it earned the distinction of being voted the ‘Best National Greyhound Racing Stadium in the north of England.

There’s a brief overview what makes Kinsley greyhound betting so unique over at greyhoundbetting.co.uk, but we’ve expanded on this below to tell the story of this unique and iconic location.

The Kinsley Greyhound Racing Stadium – A Brief History

During its infancy, the Kinsley Greyhound Racing Stadium (which was also known as a flapping track) actually served the local mining village, whilst it was regularly packed out immediately after the cessation of the Second World War in 1945.

The track first benefitted from an upgrade in 1985, when John Curran and Keith Murrell took over its everyday management. Their first task was to invest in the stadium’s infrastructure and improve its facilities, whilst the Kinsey Greyhound Derby (with a stellar top prize of £20,000) was introduced to celebrate the new-look track.

Despite showcasing all of the necessary hallmarks associated with a regulated circuit, it wasn’t until 2000 that the decision was finally taken to apply for an NGRC license.

Unsurprisingly, this was granted quickly, with the first official meeting taking place on January 15th at the turn of the century.

Following years of successful meetings and full houses, the track was awarded the prestigious 2010 Television Trophy (which was eventually won by Midway Skipper). The following year also saw the Gymcrack introduced after it was switched from the Hall Green Stadium, with last years’ race seeing Brinkley Poet beat the field whilst setting a new track record in the process!

Last year also saw this iconic stadium sign a lucrative deal with the Arena Racing Company (ARC) to race and Tuesday and Friday matinee meeting, whilst future Sunday’s will also host a brand-new set of afternoon races every week.

As we can see, the sky’s the limit for the Kinsley Greyhound Stadium, which continues to grow from strength-to-strength and draw visitors from throughout the UK.

What Facilities and Races are at this Stadium?

Whilst Kinsley has undoubtedly remained true to its roots and heritage, the stadium has also seen modernisation on a huge scale over the course of the last 35 years.

This means that it has all of the modern facilities that you’d expect from a major greyhound racing stadium, including 160-capacity Jubilee restaurant. This offers first-class waiter service during the action, whilst you can also pre-book to avoid disappointment.

The site also has an extensive snack menu, which includes 10 dishes and smaller plates from steak pie and chips to shepherd’s pie, Chinese chicken and a variety of Asian curries.

If you do decide to eat here (which we’d definitely recommend if you’re there for the evening), you can also earn a 20% discount in instances where you order both a starter and a main course.

However, you should note that the venue doesn’t have a cash point on-site, and whilst cashback is available when you order food or drinks you should ensure that you’ve got your debit card with you just in-case!

As we’ve already touched on, the biggest race in the Kinsley calendar remains the Gymtrack meeting, which features pedigree greyhounds between the age of 15 months and two years old.

Since moving to Kinsley in 2011, this high-profile race has enjoyed a surge in popularity, with Betfred having taken over sponsorship of the event from rivals SkyBet. We’ve also seen some incredible incarnations during the last eight years, from Go Commando’s thrilling win in 2015 to the success of Young Goldenin two years earlier.

Then came Brinkley Poet’s record-breaking run last year, which followed on from the success of the first Irish-trained dog (Cometwopass) to win the event in 2017.

Thanks to the new deal with the ARC, locals can now enjoy even more races throughout the week, and the chances are that the Kinsley Greyhound Stadium will get to host other seminal events as part of its bright and exciting future!