GREYHOUND RACING - THE BACKGROUND

One of the oldest breeds known to man, you can trace the history of the greyhound racing all the way back to ancient Egypt. Breeding them to race takes a great deal of care and attention. For the first year of their lives greyhound puppies live with their litter mates and are handled frequently by the breeders but they are not exposed to other breeds of dogs. As a result, they often cope better with strangers than with other breeds of dog.

Young racing greyhounds are given a lot of exercise in large pens that allow them to run at full pelt. Race training in the UK starts at 2 months of age, when they race each other in 300ft long runs but training with the drag lure doesn't start till about 12 months. A mechanical device drags an artificial lure along the ground, which the puppy is encouraged to chase. At 18 months, they are considered fully-grown race dogs and are sent to the racetrack. They are given six chances to finish in the top four in their maiden race. The best runners go to the most competitive racetracks across the UK like Walthamstow, Catford and Wimbledon. 24dogs brings you online results from these racetracks, and many more.

RACING SPEED
Greyhounds cover the half-mile racetrack course in approximately 31 seconds reaching racing speeds of up to 45 mph. They love racing and are brought up with it, so it's second nature to them. They are muzzled to assist in determining photo-finishes, which is important when you're betting on greyhounds. Online replays and results at 24dogs will show you how fast they are even if you can't make it to the racetrack.

THE 'FORM' - WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BETTING
In order to assess which grade a UK greyhound will race in, it has to run in racetrack trials (racetrack trials are races without betting). Providing the dog obtains a good time the racing manager will enter it in whatever grade they feel would give it a fair chance of winning. It's important to watch how a dog moves through the grades when betting. You can watch online replays of UK race results from the major UK racetracks at 24dogs, which helps you to assess the form of any greyhounds when online betting.

When betting online on a runner at 24dogs, it's important to notice when a dog is getting good results and coming into its best form. Racing greyhounds in the UK almost always move up and down the grades - although some maintain their form for a while, many only run five or six races at the top of their form, then slowly go off form. When a dog has dropped a grade they may begin to show signs that they are, once again, racing back to form. That's what makes online betting on the results of UK dog racing at 24dogs so exciting - predicting the results correctly is satisfying, especially when betting on a race.

24dogs - where UK greyhound racing and betting online come alive...

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