Kingdom Greyhound Stadium


Kingdom Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track located in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. It has been known as Oakview Park and the Tralee Greyhound Stadium previously.
Racing takes place every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday evening and the facilities include a grandstand restaurant, fast food facilities, a number of bars, totalisator betting and seating. It also has a large car park around the stadium.
Race distances are 500, 525, 550, 570, and 750 yards and the feature competitions at the track are the Juvenile Classic and the Race of Champions.

History

A track known as the Ardfert Greyhound track in Ardfert opened in August 1929 but unfortunately closed the same year as a result of a larger track arriving in Oakview Village nearer to the Tralee town centre. The first meeting was held on 9 April 1930 at Oakview Park and the circumference was 476 yards making for a nice comfortable course for the greyhounds.
The great Ballyhennessy Seal made his debut here in 1943 followed by Spanish Battleship, Ballymac Ball, Priceless Border and Patricias Hope, a quite remarkable list of greyhounds that graced the track over the years. In addition a series of competitions have been introduced over the years providing the Tralee public with regular annual events. The events were the Bloom 500, Harp Lager Stakes, Rose of Tralee, Clarke Cup, Kingdom Puppy Cup, Monalee
Hiker Stakes and the MJ Hannafin Memorial Cup. The last mentioned event the MJ Hannafin Memorial Cup was named in memory of the Racing Manager at the track when it opened in 1930. His brothers to Jerry and Dennis Hannafin were two highly respected trainers in the industry.
MJ Hannafin was Racing Manager until 1950 and then the hot seat was taken up by Kevin Laide for over thirty years before John Ward took over.

Recent events

At the turn of the century many Irish tracks received a boost from the Irish Greyhound Board with refurbishment on the
agenda. Tralee was no exception and underwent a major refit with the stadium redesigned for the new Millennium under the ownership of the Board.
Two new competitions the Juvenile Classic and Race of Champions have been introduced and they have quickly established themselves as leading feature events in the Irish racing calendar despite the fact that they have only been inaugurated in recent years. The stadium underwent further upgrading in 2012 following extra investment by the Irish Greyhound Board.

Competitions

Current
YardsGreyhoundTimeDateNotes
325Ballymac Sexton 17.1727.05.2016
500Beaming Mark 26.8415.06.2012
525Curious Boy 28.0506.05.2016
550Good News 29.3409.06.2017
570Raparee Polly 30.6217.02.2009
570Toms Brett 30.6230.06.2012
750Zulu Ella 41.6017.07.2009
525 hurdlesCashen Zig 28.8824.07.2009

Former
YardsGreyhoundTimeDateNotes
315 Annaghs Pride17.651950
315 Lemond Laddie17.4508.05.1958
315 Ballyard Dick=17.4508.05.1958
325 Upourdat17.9520.05.1968
325 Rosslyn Raider17.9008.03.1974
325 Glamour Hobo17.8615.08.1984
325 True Gold17.841988
325 Beau Amie17.761988
325 Mistreamer17.72Sep 1990
325 Michigan Maurice17.5230.08.1991
325 Pineapple Mandy17.46 23.04.1999
325 Cashen Malouda17.4030.06.2012
325 Leeview Dave17.3618.06.2013
325 Leeview Dave17.2421.06.2013
325 Holborn Junior17.2317.05.2014
500 Sugar Prince28.55 22.07.1958
500 Long Charlie27.4515.03.2002
500 Annamore Derry27.33 24.09.2004
500 Scarty Lad27.1404.05.2007
500 Mossend Ronnie27.1412.11.2010
500 Hernandez27.0726.07.2011
500 Characterbuildin26.8415.06.2012
525 Roman Emperor30.201950
525 Pouleen Boy30.201950
525 Hobos Choice30.201950
525 Tellus29.1202.09.1964
525 Up Early29.1229.04.1977
525 Gina Girl29.111978
525 Court Rain28.9017.08.1984
525 Castleland Mac28.69 26.09.1991
525 Rocking Bob28.4129.08.1997
525 Mountleader Rolf28.2729.11.2002
525 Deerfield Mover28.1414.09.2004
525 Deerfield Sings28.1101.07.2011
525 Mind the Net28.0913.12.2003
525 Quietly28.0813.06.2014
550 Another High Jack31.1016.05.1960
550 Footless31.1016.05.1960=equalled
550 Harpist 30.7616.07.1976
550 Orange Prince30.721979
550 Attractive Lad1980
550 Killaclug Jet30.521980
550 Realtins Best30.4029.04.1983
550 Ardfert Sean30.1802.12.1988
550 Cape Prince29.7828.07.1995
550 Annamore Billy29.7030.07.2002
550 Goldstar Premier29.6420.05.2005
550 Melodys Pat29.6206.06.2008
550 Dromore Dazzler29.6108.10.2010
550 Deerfield Music29.5217.06.2011
550 Farloe Trent29.4321.06.2013Race of Champions
570 Sirius31.3408.04.1969
570 Wise Commander31.1426.09.1996
570 Three Hells Bells30.8817.06.2003
570 Green Heat30.7530.08.2008
600 Glittering Smack33.651960
750 Slow Motion42.4029.05.1981
750 Easter Tidings42.1525.05.1999
750 I'm Only Sal42.0610.12.2004
750 Sahara Abbey42.0304.06.2005
750 Iflookscouldkill41.8808.12.2006
750 Iflookscouldkill41.79 21.07.2007
750 Shakira Live41.7002.01.2009
812 Kertogue Sarah45.9022.07.1983
525 HNervy Peggy30.6830.06.1961
525 HBallyard Hurdler29.85 18.08.1973
525 HKeen Captain29.3216.09.2003
525 HQueen Christine29.21 04.06.2005