Greyhound Racing, Is It Worth A Gamble?
There are many sports in the world where luck can play a major part in the overall outcome but can there really be a more dangerous sport to gamble on than greyhound racing?
Greyhound racing is a sport whose popularity in the UK has seen crowds growing for some time. It has moved away from the traditional old man with a flat cap image to one of a serious sport in which we are seeing the emergence of substantial prize money and even prominent TV coverage for some of the big races. You can guarantee that any visit as of an afternoon to a bookie will see a greyhound race not far from the screens. But is it all down to luck?
Those who have looked at the sport before will be familiar with the array of statistics rolled out at every event–the fastest dog, the fastest out of the traps and much more, but what exactly does it all mean?
There are few sports in the world which are over as quickly as a greyhound race, where the ability to jump out of the traps as quickly as possible can literally mean the difference between winning and coming last. So tight are the bends at many greyhound racing tracks that if you are last out of the traps it is near impossible to make up the lost distance.
The fastest dogs will do well on the short straights and possibly make up a big gap in the final quarter of the race when some dogs are tiring, but ultimately, it is the start that is vital. Unless you are backing the front couple of dogs from the off there is also a high chance of getting involved in falls, bumps and collisions, any of which can literally put a dog out of the race. Fastest to the first corner has never been more vital in any sport.
