George Hartley Memorial Open

George Hartley Memorial Open & Graham Cooper Memorial Shield

Since 2003 we have held an open, initially in memory of George Hartley and more recently we have added a shield for Supreme in memory of Vicky's beloved Grandad Graham Cooper, both longstanding whippet racers. We'd like to think that both gentlemen are watching down on us, incredibly proud at the legacy they've left behind at the club and proud of the event held in their honour

George Hartley

George came back into racing after a break from the sport of over 20 years, he was a regular at the club and always enjoyed helping his fellow club mates in training their youngsters. He was also a talented artist and did many paintings of whippets for their owners. In the 80's George raced his dogs Judd's Gem, Judd's Imp and Billycan.

Graham Cooper

Graham raced whippets all his life, and had a lot of success with his good brood bitch Scarback, who produced some brilliant offspring, Little Mary (pictures above) and a bitch by the name of Cleo, Cleo went on the produce Good as Gold, who still holds the record for gaining 4 consecutive Supreme Racing Champion Titles, every dog racing now will go back to Good as Gold, and Scarback.
Graham helped set up A & T Miners in the 90's and worked the lure for the racing.

2018 Results

Firstly thank you to the brilliant team at Kings Park, not only for all their hard work on the day which really was exceptional but for their dedication to the club leading up to the event. The members have gone above and beyond, showing great pride in producing a club, track and event of such a high standard. The track was outstanding if I do say so myself, safe for scratch dogs getting up to top speed and young pups learning to use their legs - it looked a picture.

A crowd of volunteers were busy getting everything together from 9am, some of which didn’t even have dogs to race but their help was hugely appreciated, likewise to everyone who gave up their time to supply food for the day, we were treated to all sorts of goodies, along with my mum & sister who worked their socks off in the food tent to keep everyone fed & watered. To everyone who did jobs from taking entries, weighing in, traps, lure, judging, raffle, flag, there are too many to mention but your willingness to be involved and step up to the mark under pressure never goes unnoticed, a huge pat on the back. With over 40 races our lure girl Robyn was kept busy and stuck to her role all day.

Secondly to everyone who supported the George Hartley / Graham Cooper open, we were thrilled with the attendance, with 80 dogs on the card made up of 52 non pedigrees, 7 pedigrees, 16 Lurchers & 5 little dogs – our biggest entry for a long time. The crowd of spectators was brilliant, from locals, newcomers and ex racers, it was lovely to see some faces from the past trackside.

The fun dog show went down a treat once again, kindly judged by Paul Noon and sponsored by Lanes Vets, the winners being Blue Duchess in the puppy class and Ghost Rider in the adults.
As is always the case with this open, it’s a long day, starting off with 36 dogs for time trials, whilst the weigh in was underway, other than a short break after the classes the racing flowed nicely with something going on at all times. Unfortunately we had 2 re-runs, which we were disappointed with, however owners of dogs involved were incredibly sporting and with the Supreme Overall coming from one of these it clearly didn't affect him. The massive raffle takes time as does the presentation, a compromise we’d like to feel was worthwhile for those people who won some of the brilliant prizes on offer.

We were treated to some brilliant racing with some top class animals entered, this 1/2yd/lb handicap always makes for interesting outcomes; proved once again by the bitches being won by Whispar at 22lb and the dogs by the fantastic Blake’s Bomb at 31lb, which resulted in a brilliant overall final. Congratulations to both sets of owners.

The Lurcher racing was top draw, with 6 dogs in the unders and very competitive races with 2 full dogs heats in the overs. Unders won by Indie with Robyn in 2nd and the Overs won by Celt with Storm in 2nd, making a 4 dog Supreme, it was Storm who showed the stamina to get up and take the win.

Well done also to Supreme Puppy Calendar Girl and runner up Blue Duchess, to the Yearling winner Interceptor (who was also voted most impressive dog, you can still see immaturity in his running but without doubt this dog is going places in the future) and runner up O’Hana, Supreme Veteran was sadly a solo for She’s the Pitts (who still took home £40, rosette, presentation jacket, trophy and goodies), the Supreme Scratch was a great race between Kings Park dogs Ocean Wisdom and the victor Monogram.

The pedigrees were well supported this year with 2 heats, the first going to Dotty with Hunter 2nd and the second going to Isla from Blu, Isla reversed the result of last year by bringing her best game and surprising us all, trapping out well, running with great enthusiasm and finishing strong to win comfortably from her mate Dotty in the final.

Alison had a great 1-2 in the Under 35lb Time Trial with both Midget Gem and Mr Whippet, the Overs was won by Tony & Jacqui’s Mindy who is improving with every run, both classes taking home £50 Hide & Collars vouchers.

The race of the day for me, these lot give me as much pleasure as watching any non ped, all schooled just as you would with the non peds, going through passing trials, regular handicap racing and doing so with every bit of enthusiasm as any top class non ped. The little dog race, 5 super wannabe whippets, in Red Bella a Cocker Spaniel x Bichon, in Blue Ebony the Collie, in White Ernie the Spaniel Poodle cross, in Black Buddy the JRT x Bichon and finally our little mascot, Wombat the Shih Poo. Wommy is a firm favourite amongst Kings Park members; obedient, funny, cheeky and with the stamina of a Saluki, regularly doing the epic bike rides Kathryn’s Lurchers do. Sitting off a good mark it was Wombat who bombed out of the traps, coursing the lure hard with the others chasing with all their might, whether she won or not there would be only one dog getting that lure first, win she did, by a head from Ernie with Buddy not far behind in 3rd place.

Thank you to our brilliant photographers; Ashleigh & Jacqui; Sky Raiders (who are working on their video footage) and of course Lyndon & Andy with the live facebook videos.

To sum up; £180 Rosettes, £260 Presentation Jackets, £100 Hide & Collars vouchers, over £950 prize money and also very kind & generous sponsorship by Fish 4 Dogs, Animology, Leucillin, Venidog, Smartbarf, Petcetera, Millies Wolfheart & Carnilove. We do hope you all liked your winnings.

Tons of raffle tickets were sold with everyone keen to win one of the prizes on offer which included Doggy & Human hampers, beautiful pictures, a Paul Sullivan collar & Lead set, dog food / jackets and copious amounts of alcohol. All donated by members & Kings Park supporters.

Sunday was a great display to outsiders of racing, sportsmanship, fun, love for our dogs and why we all do it - long may it continue!
Thanks to all involved.

2017 Results

Thank you to Chris Digata and the team involved in Sky Raders for the amazing videography and drone footage of our 2017 open race meeting. We asked for "something different" to be used as a promotional video and the team certainly delivered beyond our expectations. Capturing everything from the racing, safety measures our club prides itself in to the brilliant atmosphere.

2016 Results

As most of you are aware this is our first full season at Kings Park, finally in a position, for the first time since 2013 to hold the event on home soil. We are all incredibly proud of the way the club has risen from the ashes after losing members along with our A & T track. Our first year has seen us with a total of 55 members, the support and encouragement the club receives is staggering, we could never dream it would take off in the way it has, taking things back to basics, welcoming other breeds and making our weekly club meetings a social event, enjoyable for both owner and more importantly dogs
Preparation for the open started in March with emails sent out to a long list of sponsors and work on the track began after a wet winter, these events are not just thrown together last minute and we take pride in the fact that we try to give back to the people who support it as much as possible. With our new members this year came a very willing and able group of workers, keen to get stuck in with track preparation and setup.
This year we added a couple of new categories, Club Lurcher & Little Dogs, to enable those that support our club every week to be a part of our big day. This paid off with an additional 13 dogs added to the card, making a total of 80 entries.
Along with the sponsorship companies we received donations for the Presentation Jackets, all provided by our members; Jacqui Glover, Mick, Lynn & Ashley Dudek, John Marsden, Gina Pears, Julie Threlfall, John Harwood, Vicky Warren, Mark, Lorraine & Kelly Doyle, Duncan Kain, Craig & Nicola Lynch in recognition of their own / passed dogs, this was a really nice touch and they looked fab. We also had additional prize money donated by Justin Towers (£50 for the Overall Winner) and Pat Jobson (£30 to the new classes), paying out a total of £950.
Thankyou to everyone who made this day possible, the help was incredible from setting up to packing away, i won't attempt to try and name everyone as there were so many people who played a massive part, i'm sure to forget someone but it is as ever very much appreciated by us all.
From a spectators point of view we all witnessed some great performances, a few to mention were Memphis Belle cruising up the track, foot perfect in her No Limit Class and setting a new track record of 8.00sec, Thin White Duke running away from his opposition in the Puppy’s, making Sandy & Lisa’s long drive from Scotland worthwhile, the two Adult Supremes were on fire all day, both putting in stunning performances none more so than the neck and neck race for the Overall, superb!