Grand National (Irish greyhound race)

For other uses, see Grand National (disambiguation).
Irish Grand National
Feature race (discontinued)
Inaugurated1928
Last run2020
SponsorGreyhound & Petworld Luxury Transport
Race information
Distance525 yards hurdles
SurfaceSand
Qualificationhurdlers only

The Grand National was a greyhound racing competition held annually at various tracks throughout Ireland.

The race was inaugurated in 1928 at Shelbourne Park and was shared between the two Dublin tracks of Shelbourne and Harold's Cross Stadium before being switched to the old Cork (Western Road) Greyhound Stadium just before World War II.[1]

Kilkenny Greyhound Stadium hosted the race in 1960 & 1961 until Thurles Greyhound Stadium took over from 1962 to 1984. The competition returned to Shelbourne in 1985 for another 15 years but once again the nomadic race switched to Harold's Cross and was staged from 2001 to 2016 at the track.[2] Following the closure of Harold's Cross, the event was switched to Cork in 2017.[3]

It was the leading hurdle event in Ireland and an integral part of the Irish greyhound racing calendar.[4] The event came to an end after the 2020 edition.

  1. ^ Genders, Roy (1981). The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing, page 311. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN 07207-1106-1.
  2. ^ Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File, page 349. Ringpress Books. ISBN 0-948955-15-5.
  3. ^ "IGB confirms closure of Harolds Cross Greyhound Stadium". IGB. Archived from the original on 10 March 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Feature Events" (PDF). Irish Greyhound Board. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2016.