Tracks across the country attracted fantastic crowds last week as National Greyhound Week returned for the third year running.

Throughout National Greyhound Week, which is dedicated to celebrating British greyhound racing and highlighting its importance to local communities up and down the country, many tracks saw very high attendance. This included Yarmouth, which attracted the biggest crowd of their summer season, Monmore, which recorded the highest attendance for any event since Easter 2024, and Romford, whose Friday night meeting hosted over 800 spectators following the conclusion of their Family Fun Day.

National Greyhound Week 2025 was built around the theme of “Meeting Our Sporting Legends”. This built on the success of GBGB’s Adopt A Sporting Legend campaign with rugby legend Joe Marler earlier this year. With the support of local homing centres and Greyhound Ambassadors, tracks made sure that all their spectators had the opportunity to interact with some of their sporting legends and see how fantastic greyhounds are, both on the track and at home as pets.

A range of family-oriented events were run throughout the week, with many tracks offering face painting, goodie bags and colouring competitions. Yarmouth Stadium even offered a carousel ride for kids. Several tracks also hosted fundraising initiatives throughout NGW, for example Monmore Green raised over £500 for Prostate Cancer UK and Children With Cancer UK through their raffle and Harlow raised over £500 for their local greyhound homing centre.

Commenting on Monmore Green Stadium’s NGW event, Joe Edwards, Communications Manager, said:

“Bank Holiday Monday was a wonderful day and it was lovely to see so many people enjoying the racing in the sunshine. The raffle in aid of Prostate Cancer UK and Children with Cancer UK was well supported, raising almost £500 to be split across the two charities. All in all, it was a successful week here at Monmore and we look forward to supporting the occasion again next year.”

Commenting on Harlow Stadium’s involvement, Katie Bennison, GBGB Board Director and Promoter for Harlow Stadium, said:

“Harlow Stadium were delighted by the success of our recent events for National Greyhound Week raising over £500 for retired greyhounds. It was great to see some new faces attending greyhound racing for the first time.”

GBGB’s NGW Roadshow also returned for a third year, with representatives – including GBGB’s team of Regional Regulatory Vets – in attendance to answer questions about both racing and rehoming greyhounds.

Sir Philip Davies, who took up his role as Chair of GBGB on 1st September, attended Star Pelaw’s NGW event on Saturday night.  Sir Philip said:

“It was wonderful to go to Star Pelaw during National Greyhound Week and see all that the track had on offer. Greyhound racing is such an exciting sport and it was fantastic to see it being spotlighted through last week’s celebrations. In my new role as GBGB Chair, I look forward to supporting National Greyhound Week for many years to come.”

Many adult spectators participated in GBGB’s Trap Challenge, which offered a winning prize of a table for 4 in the restaurant at a track of their choice. The winner is expected to be announced next week.

There was plenty of exciting racing throughout the week as well, with a particular highlight being the ARC Puppy Classic Final at Nottingham on Bank Holiday Monday which attracted over 550 spectators.

Cress Lee, Marketing Manager at GBGB, said:

“It was wonderful to see so many tracks getting involved in National Greyhound Week and offering a wide range of different activities for their racegoers.

“Through our Roadshow, we not only had some wonderful conversations with spectators about racing and homing, but also saw first-hand the joy which our sport brings to racing communities. Many tracks saw higher than average attendances during the Week and we hope that newcomers to the sport will keep coming back for more exciting greyhound racing.

“Thank you to all the tracks who put so much effort into their events, and to the homing centres and Greyhound Ambassadors who came along to show what excellent pets greyhounds make. I look forward to building on the growing success of National Greyhound Week when it returns in 2026.”