Mildenhall Stadium

Origins and opening

Mildenhall is in an area with strong coursing roots and in later decades greyhound racing became a popular sport too. The market town in Suffolk is surrounded by agricultural land with the only significant landmark near the town being RAF Mildenhall, a Royal Air Force station that opened in 1934. It would take another 37 years before the area experienced speedway.

History

Speedway

Main article: Mildenhall Fen Tigers

In 1971 a speedway practice track was built on farmland owned by Terry Waters and two years later on the same farmland the track was moved to the south side of the junction where Hayland Drove meets Cooks Drove. The track was extremely primitive with a few sheds used as dressing rooms and straw bales made up the safety fence. In 1975 the Mildenhall Fen Tigers were formed and they entered the National League.

Greyhound racing

In August 1990, Dick Partridge approached Terry Waters regarding a return for speedway and the introduction of greyhound racing. A lease was agreed and the greyhound track was constructed along with improvements in the facilities including new concrete terracing and track lights. The hare was an 'Outside Sumner' and the sand that made the surface was the King's Lynn silica sand. Seventy-four kennels were constructed with a paddock and weighing room added in an area of the old speedway pits. After securing a licence from the National Greyhound Racing Club the first meeting took place on Saturday 21 September 1991. An eight race card started with a 375 metres event that was won by Coppacabana a 3-1 shot trained by Mills in a time of 24.61 secs.

The stadium suffered a two-month closure in the early part of 1992 before re-opening under new management headed by Denis Diffley. In 1995 Terry Waters took over from Dick Partridge who suffered financial difficulties.

One of the sports leading trainers Linda Jones from nearby Lakenheath attended the track regularly whilst establishing the Imperial Kennels. Tuesday and Saturday night racing became regular nights with other race distances in addition to 375 being 550 & 700 metres.

Later the greyhound racing was then overseen by Richard Borthwick and Michael Glynn and new Racing Manager was Michael Hill. Mildenhall underwent changes again with distances being fine-tuned to 220, 375, 545, 700, 870 & 1025 metres on a circumference of 325m. Terry Waters took over as General Manager at the turn of the millennium and in 2008 Dave and Ron Coventry took over followed by Richard Borthwick.

Controversy and sale

In 2006, a couple bought a house close to Mildenhall Stadium where stock car racing and speedway have taken place since 1975, and began complaining about the noise. The couple took the stadium to court in 2014 and won resulting in the threat of closure for the stadium. In between the track experienced a temporary suspension following the exit of promoter Carl Harris. In 2016, the stadium was sold to Deane Wood of Spedeworth Motorsports.

Greyhound racing closure and return

Greyhound racing was held every Tuesday and Friday night (all year round) but on 15 January 2018 it was announced that the racing would cease. With the ongoing problems experienced by the track, the majority of its biggest trainers left for Crayford Stadium, Henlow Stadium and Harlow Stadium, which resulted in racing only being held one night per week before the closure. In 2020, Kevin Boothby (the Towcester promoter at the time) announced the return of racing and renamed the stadium Suffolk Downs. The first trial session took place on 12 January 2022.

When racing returned the first meeting was held on 8 February 2022, with the primary race distance being 388 metres.

On 30 July 2024, the stadium suffered a fire which caused significant damage to several areas. The building containing machinery and agricultural vehicles was destroyed and damage was caused to the bar area and offices. The stadium remained closed for the remainder of 2024 and was expected to return in the second half of 2025.

In December 2025, Boothby relinquished the lease to the Arena Racing Company, who reverted the name back to Mildenhall Stadium. The lease was agreed with stadium landlords Spedeworth International Ltd and the management of the lease would be overseen by Simon Franklin, Director of Yarmouth Stadium.

Track records

Current

Former records

References

References

1. "Speedway". Spedeworth Motorsports.
2. "Race Nights". Mildenhall Stadium.
3. "Mildenhall Stadium". The National Speedway Museum.
4. (1993). "Closures and openings over the past 10 years, July 1993, page 18". Greyhound Star.
5. Barnes/Sellers, Julia/John. (1992). "Ladbrokes Greyhound Fact File, pages 71-72". Ringpress Books.
6. "Monthly Greyhound Star (Remember When 1992) August edition". Greyhound Star.
7. (22 September 2018). "Remember When - September 1995". Greyhound Star.
8. Fry, Paul. (1995). "The Official NGRC Greyhound Racing Yearbook, pages 222-223". Ringpress Books.
9. Hobbs, Jonathan. (2007). "Greyhound Annual 2008, page 191". Raceform.
10. (28 July 2019). "Remember When July". Greyhound Star.
11. (23 July 2015). "Mildenhall Stadium noise row: Owners lose Supreme Court case". BBC News.
12. (26 January 2019). "Greyhound Star (Remember When - January 2008)". Greyhound Star.
13. (11 August 2016). "Mildenhall is sold". Greyhound Star.
14. (15 January 2018). "Mildenhall Closure". Greyhound Star.
15. (7 January 2022). "Suffolk Downs granted GBGB licence". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
16. (12 January 2022). "Suffolk Downs first trial session". Greyhound Star.
17. (8 February 2022). "Suffolk Downs is up and running". Greyhound Star.
18. (3 January 2024). "Trainer of the Year final standings 2023".
19. (31 July 2024). "Huge blaze at Mildenhall Stadium in West Row causes 'significant damage'".
20. (6 August 2024). "Services yet to find cause of stadium fire".
21. (3 December 2024). "Suffolk Downs work ongoing but second half 2025 earliest return".
22. (24 December 2025). "Franklin looking forward to the Boxing Day bonanza at Yarmouth".
23. (24 December 2025). "ARC Acquires Lease To Operate Greyhound Racing At Mildenhall Stadium".
24. (11 January 2024). "British Track Records as of January 2024".
25. (28 June 2022). "Fastest of the Year". Greyhound Star.
26. "Suffolk Downs, A2, 388m". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.