Football The ground was also known as the Victoria Park Sports Ground in later years but has remained the home of Bournemouth Football Club throughout.
Greyhound racing The first meeting took place on Saturday 23 June 1928 following an earlier failed venture by the same company at nearby
Ensbury Park Racecourse. There was six race card but both hurdle races were declared void due to greyhounds fighting which was a common occurrence in the early days of oval racing. The press blamed the problems on a large bird because it was reported as flying in front of the faces of the greyhounds upsetting them. The first ever winner was Miss F Milburn's Cabaret over 525 yards in a time of 38.30 at odds of 7–4 on. The attendance was described as large and one of the stewards was Lord Robert Edward Innes-Kerr, husband of the famous actress of the time
José Collins who christened the dummy hare. The Director of Racing was T Bradbury-Pratt and the chairman was Ronald Prideaux (one of the original Southampton directors). Eight thousand people witnessed the reopening on Monday 1 Aug 1932; the racing behind the new mechanical hare (patented by Bournemouth's own Mr Mitchell) was a success and the kennel sweepstake over 400 yards was won by Mount Fergus, despite finishing second in his earlier heat on the same night. The racing schedule was set for every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday with no bookmakers allowed on course, all bets were tote only. ==References==