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Greyhound Racing
Greyhound racing is derived from a sport called coursing. Coursing involves just a single greyhound dog and is a test of the dog’s skill in sighting and catching a game animal. Greyhound racing with an artificial lure was first organized at Hendon, England in September 1876 where six greyhounds raced over a 400-yard straight course, chasing an artificial hare. Due to the cold public reception greyhound racing was abandoned. Greyhound racing was later revived in United States of America around 1907. Greyhound racing reached its peak of popularity in 1992. In 1992 about 3.5 million audience watched greyhound racing in more than 16,827 races and approximately $3.5 billion was bet on greyhound racing.
In the recent years greyhound racing has become unpopular due to the pressure from animal rights groups. The revenue from greyhound racing has dropped by almost 50% and 13 greyhound racing tracks have been closed.
Fantasy Racing
Fantasy racing is based on the same principles as other fantasy sports. Most fantasy racing begins with the selection of a team of drivers. Each of the drivers will be allocated specific point value. The point value of the drivers will be calculated based on their point ranking in the previous NHRA championships. The fantasy-racing player will have to pick a fantasy team based upon the point value. Earning points on fantasy racing is simple. Points are allocated to fantasy racing players based on their driver’s performance on the race day. An aggregate of the score of each of the drivers’ performance on all the events will be calculated and added to the fantasy racing player’s points. Penalty can also be deducted depending upon the race outcome.
Fantasy racing players will have to deposit an initial entry fee amount and register before selecting their team. At the end of a season payouts will be given to the fantasy racing winner, runner up and third place finishers. The number of payouts may increase or decrease depending on the fantasy racing organizer.
Channel Racing
The English Channel racing is considered the most difficult open water swim. The English Channel, called as La Manche in French, (meaning the sleeve) - is 19 nautical miles (38000 yards) or 34 kilometers wide at its narrowest point (Shakespeare Beach) – Dover on the English side to Cape Gris Nez, France.
The strong tides that change direction about every six hours also make channel racing extremely difficult for athletes. Englishman Matthew Webb was the first swimmer to cross the English Channel. He successfully completed his feat in 1875 and took about 21 hours and 45 minutes to cross the channel. American Olympic gold medalist Gertrude "Trudy" Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel in August 1926. Channel swimming aspirants should know that there are three web sites offering various support for Channel Swims that are traditional (Regulation swim suit with no aids), non standard (wet suits, mono-fins, etc.) and exhibition swims.
The Channel Swimming Association - is a non-profit organization that organizes and regulates cross channel racing. Again there is another organization under the name of Channel Crossing Association (CCA) , which participates in the regulation of the channel crossing as well.
Bicycle Racing
Bicycle racing was first organized in the 1890s. Tour de France – a popular bicycle racing event first took place in 1903. At its inception bicycle racing was more of an endurance sport and often involved a distance of 500 kilometers. Later with the construction of paved roads and advanced development in bicycle manufacturing, the emphasis has slowly shifted to speed. The average speed of a bicycle road race can be almost about 40 kilometers per hour. Short distance speed bursts can be about 70 kilometers per hour. One of the influencing factors in bicycle racing is wind resistance. To ride against the air resistance, bicycle riders use a tactic called drafting where riders ride within a few centimeters from each other. The different varieties of bicycle racing are 1000 Meter Time Trial, Match Sprint individual Pursuit, Team Pursuit, Points Race and Madison.
The major international bicycle racing tournaments are Sorrento Bicentenary Classic, Tour International du Golan, Herald Sun Tour, GP d'Europa, Great Ocean Road Geelong Cup and UAE International 4th Tour and Paris-Tours.
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