Oxford 2026

[False dawn]

13 minutes ago, HomeStraight said:

.......How about a positive post after last nights packed out Cheetahs v Bees meeting…....

Well I enjoyed it. It was great to relive some of those old memories of clashes between the two sides. Dan Thompson and Jody Scott put on a great show for the Bees as well as Bomber's usual 100% showing. Sam Masters was untouchable for the home side and it was great to see Erik Riss back to the sort of form we all know he's capable of.

Thank you Oxford for putting this on. The Bees ain't dead yet. 

[old bob at herne bay]

Good to see our old friend R/R making an appearance so early in another exciting season of UK speedway. Even in a challenge match they couldn't find a  real rider to havea spin.  ???? 

[heathen52]

54 minutes ago, HomeStraight said:

Not this again, it’s old hat and nonsense spread by the anti-greyhound lobbies re any risk to the speedway, although yes sadly the illness part is I believe valid.
 

 

😛, You were saying https://www.racingpost.com/greyhounds/big-blow-for-greyhound-racing-as-sis-cancels-contracts-at-oxford-and-suffolk-downs-a6AY51v5riSm/

[CoffeeandTV]

Just now, heathen52 said:

😛, You were saying https://www.racingpost.com/greyhounds/big-blow-for-greyhound-racing-as-sis-cancels-contracts-at-oxford-and-suffolk-downs-a6AY51v5riSm/

Not something to really be smug about, but yes, you're right. 

Oxford look screwed. No more greyhound racing, means no more speedway. Can't see anybody else taking on Boothby's lease, as it was subsidised by SIS....who now won't be subsidising anything. Lease reverts back to Galliard.... bye, bye Oxford. Incredibly sad times.

[Bojangles]

This is awful news. Miracle needed!

[frigbo]

Dire news. Oxford must be in grave danger of going back to square one 😪

[mikebv]

1 hour ago, HomeStraight said:

Not this again, it’s old hat and nonsense spread by the anti-greyhound lobbies re any risk to the speedway, although yes sadly the illness part is I believe valid.
 

How about a positive post after last nights packed out Cheetahs v Bees meeting… there’s no risk to speedway with crowds like that, they ran out of food after heat 4, and sold out of beer and spirits, and the racing was excellent.

Certainly not old hat and nonsense....

With the withdrawal of the SIS contract, I would think "crowds like that" will be what Oxford Speedway need every meeting!!!

SIS have kept so many Greyhound tracks going, therefore, very worrying if they are now reducing their involvement...

Running Greyhound meetings with no live TV betting simply won't be viable for tracks....

Strange that the only tracks being dropped belong to the same person....

[orion]

Terrible news for Oxford and speedway  i would think without  the revenue from the   sis contract it will almost be  impossible to keep the staduim open . I guess this  sort of thing has always cause a problem to speedway when it is dependent on Greyhound Racing. 

[Toady]

40 minutes ago, Bojangles said:

This is awful news. Miracle needed!

Agreed, but are these the consequences of not paying your bills?

[Bojangles]

5 minutes ago, Toady said:

Agreed, but are these the consequences of not paying your bills?

It doesn't look like that's the case on this occasion (although certainly won't have helped). It's a consequence of bad business decisions when the lease was signed. Looks like Boothby signed up for a lease he couldn't afford on his own, knowing he was getting financial assistance from SIS. Now SIS themselves are in financial trouble and have pulled the plug on giving Boothby any cash - meaning he can no longer afford to run the greyhounds. 

[Toady]

52 minutes ago, Bojangles said:

It doesn't look like that's the case on this occasion (although certainly won't have helped). It's a consequence of bad business decisions when the lease was signed. Looks like Boothby signed up for a lease he couldn't afford on his own, knowing he was getting financial assistance from SIS. Now SIS themselves are in financial trouble and have pulled the plug on giving Boothby any cash - meaning he can no longer afford to run the greyhounds. 

He owes a significant amount of money across his business and administration could be next. As discussed on here, someone like ARC could take on the lease. 

[secsy1]

It is possible that SIS is closing Greyhound Racing Tracks purely for financial purposes after the rise in gambling tax.

The Remote Gaming Duty has risen from 21% to 40% as from yesterday. 

William Hill will close over 200 betting shops due to this rise and could further affect Horse Racing throughout the country.

So not only SIS but potentially ARC and all other forms associated with betting.

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by secsy1
further information

[Bojangles]

13 minutes ago, Toady said:

He owes a significant amount of money across his business and administration could be next. As discussed on here, someone like ARC could take on the lease. 

He does, yes, and he probably owes a chunk to SIS. Although not sure we'll get the full story from either of them.

Arc seems unlikely I think, best options would probably be..

1) PGR come on board and it continues under Boothby. They've already issued a statement saying they are "assessing all options", although don't think they have the best of relations with Boothby.
2) Change of leaseholder. Someone like Ben Keith coming on board would make sense, but it's a big risk for him. Mike Davis at Towcester would be another option.

Edited 4 hours ago by Bojangles

[noaksey]

1 hour ago, Bojangles said:

He does, yes, and he probably owes a chunk to SIS. Although not sure we'll get the full story from either of them.

Arc seems unlikely I think, best options would probably be..

1) PGR come on board and it continues under Boothby. They've already issued a statement saying they are "assessing all options", although don't think they have the best of relations with Boothby.
2) Change of leaseholder. Someone like Ben Keith coming on board would make sense, but it's a big risk for him. Mike Davis at Towcester would be another option.

If the lease allows assignment and/or if the landlords are so minded

Fingers crossed for a resolution 

[Tinker]

1 minute ago, noaksey said:

If the lease allows assignment and/or if the landlords are so minded

Fingers crossed for a resolution 

Could be bad news all round but sincerely hope not. It's early day and still time for some sort of resolution so isn't this when the BSPL should spring into action with some sort of contingency plan.

Don't leave it until the eleventh hour, start discussing/making plans now starting with the worse case scenario. 

[screm]

Statement from Oxford Speedway.

https://oxfordspeedway.club/2026/04/urgent-oxford-speedway-statement/

[BackInTheDHSS]

1 minute ago, screm said:

Statement from Oxford Speedway.

https://oxfordspeedway.club/2026/04/urgent-oxford-speedway-statement/

Nice to see Oxford making a statement, but it doesn't exactly encourage optimism.

Only rumours, but heard that the tractors have been collected and removed from the stadium today.

[HomeStraight]

I stand corrected, thought it was just the rumour mill again but this looks serious. It will be devastating if this causes any issues with the Speedway 😕

[heathen52]

32 minutes ago, HomeStraight said:

I stand corrected, thought it was just the rumour mill again but this looks serious. It will be devastating if this causes any issues with the Speedway 😕

Thank you, I would not have posted unless I was sure and the source has proved reliable in the past, I do believe someone will probably take over the lease, providing the lease is able to be Transferred, I am no businessman but allegedly SIS do have charges against the lease and it would be in no-ones interest to see Oxford close.

[WookieboyDon]

I was there last night and the fact that some of the toilets were out of order (more than one which you would hope would have been fixed before the first meeting of the season), some of the hand dryers had been removed, and the fact the programme was like something from the 90’s (I’m hoping that was just because it was not a regular league fixture) does not bode well…I’m hoping it’s all just a coincidence.