A greyhound racing enthusiast who turned an innocent night out into a career is celebrating the roles of females in the industry to mark International Women’s Day.
Sarah Saunders grew up in Gorton, Manchester, only a stone’s throw from Belle Vue Greyhound Stadium where she first experienced the sport which marks its centenary next year.
The 33-year-old landed her first job through greyhound racing as a parader after leaving school, and almost two decades later remains connected to the dogs through her present role at Nottingham Stadium in the racing office.
Sarah even met her husband, Jack, through racing with the couple choosing to tie the knot on a Thursday as at the time it was the only day which didn’t clash with their racing schedule.
She’s now one of multiple women employed at the Colwick Park track which races four times weekly and has a female trainer strength of six including Sarah Spillane, Jill Llewellin and Elaine Saville.
After choosing a career with greyhounds over beauty therapy, Sarah has no regrets.
“Belle Vue was on our doorstep growing up,” said Sarah. “It was the go-to place for a night out, family celebrations and parties.
“I qualified in beauty therapy as a teenager, but that career went out of the window because of the greyhounds. Like everyone in the industry, I fell in love with them.
“My role at Nottingham is hands-on which I love. A lot of our racegoers won’t consider the operation behind the scenes to allow a fixture to go ahead – even simple things like finalising our race cards, registrations and allocating numbers.
“It’s a big team effort and the role of women in greyhound racing allows us to run our four weekly fixtures.”
Sarah’s family touchpoint to greyhound racing extends to her sister, Vanessa, who moved to Kent to work at Nottingham’s sister venue Central Park as a paddock manager.
She even has two retired greyhounds of her own at home, Monty and Cindy, the former of whom won the 2018 Puppy Classic at Nottingham – a Category One competition held on August Bank Holiday Monday worth £12,500 to the winner.
“Greyhound racing really is a family affair for us,” said Sarah. “The fact we held our wedding on a non-raceday tells you what the sport means to us both.
“Vanessa loves her role at Central Park too and my father-in-law was a former trainer at Belle Vue and Sheffield. Even at home we have our two retired greyhounds Monty and Cindy – Monty is well-known at Nottingham as he won the Puppy Classic here in 2018 and still loves to come racing.
“It’s a great industry to work in – I’d recommend it to anyone who thrives in a fast-moving environment and has a love for dogs.”
Further information about Nottingham Stadium’s upcoming fixtures is available online via www.nottingham-greyhounds.co.uk. The track races every Monday and Friday evening.
