Crayford Stadium

Crayford Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium located in the London Borough of Bexley in England. The stadium, which featured races from 1986 to 2025, had private suites, a restaurant and a number of bars.
Evening meetings took place every Tuesday and Sunday, with matinée race meetings taking place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Crayford was owned by Ladbrokes Coral, a subsidiary of Entain. The stadium ceased racing after the 19 January 2025 meeting.

History

1980s

In 1984 Ladbrokes announced that racing would cease at the Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium following the sale of part of the site to Sainsbury's. The sale also included plans for rebuilding the entire stadium on the west side of the closing stadium. Five acres of the twenty-acre site would be converted into a new greyhound track and sports stadium. Racing ended on 18 May 1985 and work began on the new stadium. Following sixteen months of development and construction, it was ready for action. The press falsely claimed it was the first greyhound track to be built for 30 years because several had been constructed within the previous decade including Nottingham and Reading.
The grand opening took place on 1 September 1986, and the new stadium would be called Crayford after the decision was made to drop the Bexleyheath part; the stadium was situated in a different five-acre part of the original twenty acres. The stadium was opened by the mayor of Bexley and Ladbrokes Chairman Cyril Stein.
In 1987 the track took possession of a major competition called the Golden Jacket which had struggled to find a new home since the demise of Harringay. The event had been temporarily held at Hall Green and Monmore and was a popular afternoon competition with television exposure. Crayford also provided a new matinee meeting for their Ladbrokes betting shops and another new competition called the Crayford Rosebowl was inaugurated. In 1988 Dinky Luckhurst trained Breeks Rocket to Grand National success.
The dimensions of the all-sand circuit were a small 334 m circumference with distances of 380, 540, 714 and 874 metres with an outside Sumner hare. Facilities included a restaurant for 138 covers, two bars and a twin-tier glass-fronted covered stand. Also within the stadium was a sports hall complex, a fitness area and a swimming pool. The racing manager was Roy Dwight and general manager Roger Lakey, soon to be replaced by Paul Lawrence and Barry Stanton respectively.

1990s

In 1996 Dynamic Display repeated the Grand National achievement for trainer Barry O'Sullivan. The Guys and Dolls competition arrived at the track in 1997. Pure Patches won the 1998 Gold Collar and also made the 1999 English Greyhound Derby final and Bubbly Prince won the 1999 Cesarewitch.

2000s

Lady Jean won the 2000 Cesarewitch, and Haughty Ted won the 2001 Gold Collar for Dinky Luckhurst. Racing manager Paul Lawrence parted company with the track in 2000, replaced by Harry Bull, with Danny Rayment promoted to deputy. Rayment went on to replace Bull as racing manager in 2006. Trainer Lorraine Sams introduced a greyhound to the industry in 2006 called Spiridon Louis. The black-and-white dog would become the 2007 Greyhound of the Year after winning the St Leger, TV Trophy and Regency.

2010s

A third Grand National win by the Gemma Davidson-trained Plane Daddy, in 2010, continued Crayford's success with hurdle racing.
In 2015 the track resurrected the original classic Gold Collar competition and the Guys and Dolls. In 2017 Ladbrokes merged with Gala Coral to form Ladbrokes Coral.
In 2018, the stadium signed a deal with SIS to race every Tuesday morning and evening, Thursday afternoon, Friday morning and Saturday morning.

2020s

In 2022, Entain signed a long-term deal with the Arena Racing Company for media rights, starting in January 2024. In 2023, the stadium held the Champion Hurdle for the first time. In 2024, Crayford trainer Ricky Holloway won the Golden Jacket with Dazl Rolex, the first home victory since 2007.

Closure

In November 2024 Entain announced their intention to close the stadium, stating that "it is no longer viable for us to continue operating the site". The stadium closed down after the final meeting, which was held on 19 January 2025.

Competitions

Golden Jacket

Gold Collar

Kent St Leger

Guys And Dolls

Champion Hurdle

Crayford/Kent Vase

Crayford/Kent Rosebowl

Year	Winner	Breeding	Trainer	Time	SP	Notes/ref
1987	Lisnakill Ruby	I'm Slippy – Midland Mist	Linda Mullins	25.46
1990	Clonlusk Villa	Strom Villa – Clonlusk Dell	Hazel Dickson	23.93	2/1	-
1993	Loch Bo Lucky	I'm Slippy – Loch Bo Goldie	John Coleman	23.78	4/1
1994	Lemon Raider	I'm Slippy – Lemon Miss	John McGee Sr.	23.33	6/4jf
1995	Dongadong	Deenside Spark – Keltic Cracker	Chris Duggan	24.18
1997	Kiel Casino	Daleys Gold – Kiel Glory	Roy Towner	23.70	14/1
1998	Curryhills Steve	Cool Prince – Iona Lass	Linda Jones	24.28	10/1
1999	Dower Diamond	Highway Leader – Dower Celt	Roy Towner	24.05	5/2
2000	Respect	New Level – Hello Gorgeous	x	23.91	8/1
2001	Marinas Pride	Thorgil Tex – Marinas Machine	Pat Thompson	23.86	7/4jf
2002	Silver Tail	Roanokee – Ardera Melody	Diane Platts	23.22	5/1
2003	Patchit	Cool Performance – Chartwell Flyer	Patsy Cusack	23.30	11/4jf
2004	Rockmount Gael	Prince of Tinrah – Slaney Lady	Dinky Luckhurst	23.47	11/4
2005	Lenson Ace	Judicial Pride – Any Time Soon	Seamus Cahill	23.83	2/1f
2006	Lenson Ace	Judicial Pride – Any Time Soon	Seamus Cahill	23.68	2/1f
2007	Xamax Johndee	Droopys Kewell – Xamax Xylograph	John Davidson	23.95	5/4f
2008	Farloe Nipper	Droopys Kewell – Farloe Edge	Arun Green	23.54	6/1
2009	Ardbeg Kate	Daves Mentor – Farantane Sinead	Michael Fawsitt	23.10	4/5f
2010	Me Buddy	Ballymac Maeve – Ballymac Peg	Matt Dartnall	23.64	2/1
2011	Ministry Mayhem	Ballymac Maeve – Lady Freckles	Kelly Findlay	23.63	4/5f
2012	Selkirk Souter	Boherduff Light – Memphis May	Julie Luckhurst	23.35	6/1
2013	Murlens Crash	Crash – Murlens Snowdrop	Mark Wallis	23.33	7/2
2019	Sleepy Genie	Laughil Blake – Whiteys Buddelia	David Puddy	23.29	4/9f
2020	Signature Callum	Tullymurry Act – Franks Dream	Michelle Brown	23.43	6/4f
2021	Icaals Rocco	Pat C Sabbath – Quivers Duchess	John Mullins	23.38	8/1
2022	Adeles Duke	Good News – Tullovin Fire	Diane Henry	23.27	6/4f
2023	Oh Cosmopolitan	Laughil Blake – Ballykett Beauty	John Mullins	23.28	9/2
2024	Yahoo Megan	Droopys Sydney – Geelo Gold Dust	Patrick Janssens	23.13	15/8f

Track records

Current

Former

Metres	Greyhound	Time	Date	Notes
380	Justa Mo	23.66	9 May 1987
380	Sail on Delaney	23.53	28 January 1989
380	Clonlusk Villa	23.46	26 January 1991
380	Genotin Laura	23.31	17 May 1993
380	Lots of Jolly	23.31	16 July 1994
380	Rossa Ranger	23.36	15 April 2002
380	Chasing A Dream	23.18	5 May 2002
380	Skibbs Flyer	23.06	14 October 2002
380	Kingdom Club	23.01	27 September 2003	Guys and Dolls Final
380	Tictac Tyson	22.97	7 May 2011
380	You Never Listen	22.97	19 February 2015	=equalled
380	Target Harris	22.88	18 July 2015
540	Baby Pol	34.01	4 August 1987
540	Hello Blackie	33.93	11 August 1990
540	Side Wink	33.46	9 January 1992
540	Break On Thru	33.43	14 October 2002
540	Sportsman	33.26	3 February 2003
540	Sunshine Sophie	33.13	28 February 2004
540	Mayshighlandreel	33.09	26 September 2017	Gold Collar final
714	Favourite Return	46.86	22 May 1987
714	Harry Lime	46.17	31 August 1987
714	Fort Leader	45.61	16 February 1989
714	Heavenly Lady	45.25	8 February 1993
714	Blues Best Tayla	45.19	24 February 2001
714	Rosden Image	45.07	14 October 2002
714	Foreign Chick	45.13	14 October 2002
714	Centour Corker	45.02	3 February 2003
714	Centour Corker	44.74	3 March 2003	Golden Jacket Final
714	Double Take	44.57	21 February 2004	Golden Jacket semi-final
874	Astrosyn Trace	57.21	26 October 1987
874	Clonbrin Black	56.15	15 October 1993
1048	Stansted Flyer	69.81	7 September 1996
1048	Musical Fawn	68.80	22 February 2014
1048	Roxholme Magic	68.59	23 February 2016
380 H	Off You Sail	24.29	15 June 1987
380 H	Parktown Ranger	23.96	21 January 1989
380 H	Ladys Champion	23.86	24 September 1994
380 H	Dynamic Display	23.70	1996
380 H	Razldazl Raidio	23.28	26 March 2016
380 H	Razldazl Raidio	23.18	8 October 2016
380 H	Droopys Cruiser	23.18	28 September 2019
540 H	Breeks Rocket	35.30	1988
540 H	Cahara Gamble	35.08	17 June 1991
540 H	Cahara Gamble	35.01	3 August 1991
540 H	Rainys Pet	34.85	10 August 1991
540 H	Rainys Pet	34.67	17 August 1991
540 H	Sunshine Sandy	34.32	11 March 1993
540 H	El Tenor	34.16	13 April 1998
540 H	Selby Ben	33.68	26 May 2003