Rye House Stadium

Rye House Stadium is a former greyhound racing and current speedway venue in Rye House near Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. It is situated adjacent to the River Lea Navigation.

Rye House Stadium

Location	Rye House near Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire
Opened	1935

Origins

The name Rye House originates from a collection of medieval buildings on an area known as the Isle of Rye due to the fact that the land was directly next door to the River Lea/Lee and in particular the Lee Navigation. When the stadium was constructed in 1935 it was put next door to Rye House on a spare plot which is where the name for the stadium came from. Rye House had been the family home for the Parr family that included Catherine in the 16th century and later a workhouse and tourist attraction in the 19th century. All that remains today of the original Rye House is the gatehouse found to the north of the stadium.[1]

The stadium was accessed from Rye Road either in an easterly or westerly direction with Hoddesdon to the west and a large sewage works to the east.[2]

The stadium

The stadium has hosted greyhound racing, speedway and stock car racing. The stadium has recently been upgraded by the owner, Warren Scott. Next to the stadium is Rye House Kart Circuit which was built on a former site of the speedway track.[3]

Speedway

Main article: Rye House Rockets

The stadium was the home of the Rye House Rockets but the team folded in 2018. The Rye House Cobras were also based here and competed in the National League until 2012.[4]

Greyhound racing

The stadium was described as being able to hold 4,000 spectators and it was not until 1960 that Gerry Bailey and Jack Carter took over the lease and immediately began to upgrade the facilities moving the greyhound track to the outside of the speedway track to form a 440-yard circumference. Racing was held on Wednesday and Saturday evenings and an 'Inside Sumner' system and photo finish was installed.[5]

During 1974 six independent tracks (unaffiliated to a governing body) took advantage of the new National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) rule allowing smaller venues to join them in what was called the permit scheme.[6] Hackney Wick Stadium introduced the Lead sponsored by William Hill in 1975 and switched the 1,000 Guineas to a longer distance, consequently Rye House introduced the Sovereign Stakes for sprinters to compensate for the loss of the 1,000 Guineas.[7] The competition attracted some of the sports leading sprinters.[8]

Gin And Jass trained by Dave Drinkwater claimed the Crayford Vase and broke four track records in addition to winning the Pall Mall Stakes in 1976. Salina and Regal Girl (both George Lang) won two consecutive 'Key' competition victories before Dutch Jet became Peterborough Derby champion in 1983 for Jean Talmage.[9]

The management found it difficult to continue racing under NGRC rules due to increased costs and in 1985 reverted to independent racing. However, in March 1988 Eddie Lesley took over the lease and brought the stadium back under NGRC rules once again. The track dimensions were changed to a 389 circumference and distances of 255, 465, 595 and 655m. Gerry Bailey was installed as the Racing Manager who then took over the lease again with Carter in 1990 and they in turn made Ray Spalding the Racing Manager. Spalding was later to become General Manager with Frank Baldwin brought in as Racing Manager.[10]

In 1995 Theo Mentzis won the St Leger with Kens Dilemma and one year later Night Trooper finished runner up in the English Greyhound Derby. Night Trooper a black dog trained by Nikki Adams then went undefeated through the Pall Mall in 1997 and claimed the Reading Masters.[9]

John 'Ginger' McGee had an attachment at the track in 1998 following his return from a 1994 NGRC ban and in 1999 the Sovereign Stakes was revived under new Racing Manager David Quinn. which was won by Night Trooper.[9]

In the summer of 2000 the site was sold to Silversport owned by speedway promoter Len Silver and Hazel Naylor but after a short venture with the greyhound racing they ended the greyhounds in 2004. The greyhounds remained closed until 2005 before re-opening under former Racing Manager Sue Picton and then closing for good on 15 November 2006.[9]

Competitions

Sovereign Stakes

Year	Winner	Breeding	Trainer	Time	SP
1976	Raheen Sam	Geriomar – Poor Cathy	John Coleman (Wembley)	17.13	4-1
1977	Paddock Boy	Nelson Pillar - Diapson	Mr Dale-Mills (Private)	17.05	14-1
1978	Knockrour Brandy	Bright Lad – Knockrour Last	Freda Greenacre (Private)	17.17	3-1
1979	Flying Pursuit	Kudas Honour – Faoide Look	John Gibbons (Rochester)	16.97	5-4f
1980	Greenfield Chief	Rapid Chief – Beyond Clogheen	Jerry Fisher (Reading)	17.00	6-1
1981	Skipping Scot	Liberty Lad – Lady Armada	Bryce Wilson (Shawfield)	17.03	10-11f
1982	Valiant Point	Valiant Band - Ashgrove Point	Mark Sullivan (Private)	17.17	7-4
1983	Upton Rocket	Nameless Star – Knockrour Girl	Kenny Linzell (Walthamstow)	16.99	4-6f
1984	Upton Rocket	Nameless Star – Knockrour Girl	Kenny Linzell (Walthamstow)	16.70	4-5f
1985	Daleys Gold	Lindas Champion – Ballinderry Moth	Jerry Fisher (Reading)	16.64	4-7f
1987	Lissadell Tiger	Bold Work – Cleonas Style	Ernie Gaskin Sr. (Private)	16.72	9-1
1988	Office Whisper	Whisper Wishes – Plucky Linda		16.32
1989	Lissadell Tiger	Bold Work – Cleonas Style	Ernie Gaskin Sr. (Private)	15.90
1990	Maireads Sand	Manorville Sand – Maireads Ruby	George Lang (Crayford)	16.09	6-1
1991	Carrrigeen Zig	Whisper Wishes – Carrigeen Lucky	Ron Hough (Sheffield)	16.27	5-2
1992	Wheres The Limo	Glen Park Dancer – Kingswell Joy	Linda Mullins (Walthamstow)	15.82	4-5f
1993	Saucy Child	Childrens Champ – Cuofruse Girl	O Ayegune (Private)	15.79	7-1
1999	Night Trooper	Portrun Flier - Suir Orla	Nikki Adams (Rye House)	16.37	3-1

1986, 1994-1998, 2001-2003 (not held)

Track records

Distance metres	Greyhound	Time	Date
210	Our Dog Raphael	13.59	29.03.1998
255	Mairead Sand	15.71	1989
255	Strange Dilly	15.66	30.05.1990
265	Mossley Mead	15.87	10.10.1999
270	Fast Kodiak	16.46	29.02.2004
270	Melodys Jo	16.29	26.06.2005
270	Torbal Dante	16.26	03.07.2005
270	Run for Bally	16.20	02.10.2005
270	Ringtown Mojo	16.20	05.11.2006
281	Tiger Jazz	16.91	1978
281	Daleys Gold	16.59	1987
383	Fast Kodiak	23.17	09.05.2004
435	Thats the Bullet	26.50	02.10.2005
435	Davdor Dashing	26.28	13.08.2006
445	Prinz Eugen	26.34	06.09.1998
465	Columbcille Gem	27.85	1989
465	Ring Slippy	27.76	25.10.1989
480	Deejay Scores	29.52	14.09.2003
480	Farview Peek	29.33	21.09.2003
480	Tain Sli	29.26	10.04.2005
480	Tolon Prince	29.16	03.07.2005
484	Outlatwick Kibo	29.88	1976
484	Glamour Hobo	29.25	1987
484	Night Trooper	28.52	1997
600	Run on Terry	37.50	30.07.1988
628	Billysroundabout	38.60	31.07.2005
628	Graigue Robin	38.52	23.10.2005
630	Kens Dilemma	38.75	1996
655	Special Gamble	40.37	20.07.1988
670	Askinvillar King	43.12	1976
670	Go Go Tiger	42.73	03.04.1985
680	Shelbourne Star	42.43	19.10.2003
680	Sooty Sive	42.38	23.01.2005
680	Greenacre Lin	42.33	06.08.2006
680	Greenacre Lin	41.91	13.08.2006
685	Dunmurry Flight	41.75	01.11.1998
845	Yamaha Autumn	54.42	23.01.2005
865	Decoy Madonna	54.69	10.07.1989
865	Bubbly Princess	53.25	04.04.1999
870	Cloonty Lib	57.05	1987
905	Souda Bay	56.58	29.03.1998
485 H	Creevy Rover	29.56	20.08.2000

References

1. British Listed Buildings, Rye House Gatehouse, Stanstead Abbots.
2. "OS County Series Hertfordshire 1939". old-maps.co.uk.
3. Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. ISBN 0-7524-2210-3
4. Jacobs, Norman (2007). 70 Years of Rye House Speedway. ISBN 978-0-7524-4162-7
5. Furby, R (1968). Independent Greyhound Racing. New Dominion House. p. 38.
6. "Remember When - June". Greyhound Star.
7. "Monthly Greyhound Star (Remember When 1975)". Greyhound Star.
8. Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File. Ringpress Books. ISBN 0-948955-15-5.
9. Hobbs, Jonathan (2007). Greyhound Annual 2008. Raceform. ISBN 978-1-905153-53-4.
10. Barnes, Julia (1991). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File. Ringpress Books. ISBN 0-948955-61-9.