Location

The stadium is located in Fengate, less than a mile from Peterborough

Peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...

 city centre.

History

The track has held greyhound racing

Greyhound racing

Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a lure on a track until they arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner....

 since 1930. The Perkin’s family invested in the track in 1945 (see Perkins Family).

In the early 1990s the stadium

Stadium

A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...

 was built by local architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

s T.E Titman Associates initially with 600 seats all with a full view of the track and fully air conditioned

Air conditioning

An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...

. 200 of the seats were for the raceview restaurant

Restaurant

A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

 and the other 400 were unreserved seating for the Rumbling Tum fast food

Fast food

Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...

 servery.

On March 24, 2009, the stadium was severely damaged by fire spread from an adjoining warehouse

Warehouse

A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...

. Work started immediately on repairs and refurbishment but there was no racing for 6 months, the stadium the hosted its first post fire race on 21 September 1999
In the summer of 2003 a £3million extension of the stadium opened, increasing the length of the stadium from 301 to 518 feet bringing the total number of raceview seating to nearly 1000. During this extension two corporate sections were added to the stadium seating

Stadium seating

Stadium seating or theater seating is a characteristic seating arrangement that is most commonly associated with performing-arts venues, and derives its name from stadiums, which typically use this arrangement...

 for 100 in total.

In November 2007 the car park was extended to meet the growing demand from customers.

The stadium now has 8 fully licensed bars and a cafeteria

Cafeteria

A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen...

 400 restaurant seats, 100 corporate seats and 500 unreserved seats.

Perkins Family

The Perkin’s family became involved in ownership in 1945 when Reg Perkins and George Ellingworth bought the track. At this time the hare was moved around the track by two men cycling! When George Ellingworth died Reg Perkins took complete control. Reg retired in 1977 since then Richard and Rob Perkins (the grandchildren of Reg) have taken control of major operational responsibilities. Rex Perkins, Reg’s son worked at the dog track from the age of 17 and was Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Peterborough 1987-1988 he was also a magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

 until the year 2000 when he retired. Rex died in 2003 and the extended part of the stadium is dedicated to the memory of Rex.

Track Layout

The circumference of the racing track is 370 metres, 6.5 metres wide on the straights and 5 metres wide on the bend.

The surface slopes towards the inside of the track with a gradient of two degrees on the straights, increasing gradually to four, six and then eight degrees as the greyhound

Greyhound

The Greyhound is a breed of sighthound that has been primarily bred for coursing game and racing, and the breed has also recently seen a resurgence in its popularity as a pedigree show dog and family pet. It is a gentle and intelligent breed...

s approach the bends. This eases the greyhound into the bends and also allows better drainage for consistent going.
The racing circuit is constituted of silicon

Silicon

Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...

 sand. To prevent freezing, up to 15 tons of salt are used during the winter months. When there is no rain, the track is watered to maintain moisture.

General Seating

There are 500 unreserved raceview seats in the general seating area. There are 3 bars available for people within this area as well as the Rumblin Tum fast food servery and a tote office

The Tote

The Tote, formerly the Horserace Totalisator Board, is a British bookmaker with head offices in Wigan. It was owned from its formation in 1928 by the UK Government but was sold to Betfred in July 2011. Under the brand totesport the Tote has 514 high street betting shops, outlets on Britain's 60...

. There is easy access to the trackside.

Raceview Restaurant

There are 400 seats available within the raceview restaurant. 2 course and 3 course options are available to customers. Tote service is given at tables.

Corporate Seating

There are two corporate areas, each with 50 seats, separated by a glass partition; the corporate sections have their own bar, toilets and access to track. There are 3 options for those dining in the corporate area a finger buffet

Finger food

Finger food is food meant to be eaten directly using the hands, in contrast to food eaten with a knife and fork, chopsticks, or other utensils. In some cultures, food is almost always eaten with the hands; for example, Ethiopian cuisine is eaten by rolling various dishes up in injera bread. In the...

, a 3 course hot carvery

Carvery

A carvery is a restaurant where cooked meat is freshly sliced to order for customers, sometimes offering unlimited servings for a fixed price...

 or a 3 course cold carvery.

General information

Races are held every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evening. Races start at 7.30 and end at 10.30.

There are 86 air conditioned kennel

Kennel

A kennel is the name given to any structure or shelter for dogs. A kennel is a doghouse, run, or other small structure in which a dog is kept...

s for the greyhounds, they must be in 45 minutes before the race so they may acclimatise to the area and recover from their travel to Peterborough.
The stadium stages seven of the leading major open competitions during the year. They are the Peterborough Derby (a Grade 1 event), the Puppy Derby (with the Final shown live on Sky), the Peterborough Marathon, Peterborough Cesarewitch, Puppy Cesarewitch, and Fengate Collar. The Veterans’ Derby, was introduced to the calendar in 2003 with £5,000 in prize money – the biggest for any race of its kind in the UK.