UK’S NEWEST TRACK DUNSTALL PARK OPENS

Ian Fortune

Yesterday’s opening meeting at Dunstall Park, Wolverhampton went off without a hitch and by all accounts it looks a tremendous circuit.

The track which replaces the recently closed Perry Barr features long sweeping bends and the racing was all very clean yesterday.

For the record, the opening race at the new track was won by Sovereign Poppy racing from the inside box. Incidentally, six of the ten races were won by the greyhound wearing red. That may come down to many of the wider runners drifting around as they further acquaint themselves with the dimensions of the track. Indeed, going forward, you would expect the spread of winners to increase.    

The race distances at the new track are 270, 480, 660, 715 and 925m. The run to the turn over the 480m trip sits at 60m, while the run to the turn for the sprint trip is 75m.

Dunstall Park will initially race on Monday mornings, Wednesday evenings, Thursday afternoons and Friday evenings.  There is also a one-off Saturday evening fixture on September 27, the night of the BOYLE Sports Derby final at Shelbourne Park. This evening will be used as an opportunity to stage a series of trial stakes for the PGR Oaks. The Arc Scurry over 270m will be run at the same time as the Oaks.

In 2026, in addition to the Oaks and Scurry, the St Leger (715m), Laurels and Birmingham Cup will be staged at the track. They may also throw their hat in the ring as regards a Derby bid, although Mike Davis has already stated that Towcester intends to tender to remain the host track for the blue riband.

We wish all involved in the new venture the very best of luck and hope that is becomes an immediate success.