On a cold December evening in 1937, thousands of spectators packed into Romford Greyhound Stadium in Essex. They weren't there for the dogs. They'd come to watch something England had never seen before: cheetahs racing against greyhounds.

The mastermind behind this bizarre spectacle was Kenneth Gandar-Dower, an adventurer who'd just returned from Kenya with twelve live cheetahs. After spending 1935 and 1936 climbing active volcanoes and mapping Mount Sattima in East Africa, he hatched a plan to save Britain's struggling greyhound racing industry with imported African predators.

The Debut That Broke Records

After six months of quarantine and training, the cheetahs made their public debut on Saturday, December 11, 1937. A female named Helen became an instant celebrity when she demolished the competition—and the track record.

Racing against two greyhounds over 355 yards, Helen didn't just win. She made the dogs look like they were standing still. She crossed the line in 15.86 seconds at 55 mph, setting a track record that no greyhound could touch. One reporter wrote that Helen "did not appear to like their company a great deal, for she left them far behind."

Why It Failed Spectacularly

The crowds loved it. Stadium owner Arthur Leggett thought he'd struck gold. But there was a problem: cheetahs aren't greyhounds.

The big cats had zero interest in chasing mechanical lures. When they raced against each other, they'd simply stop mid-race, bored. When they ran against greyhounds, they had to be released first to prevent them from attacking the dogs—which rather defeated the point of racing.

Cheetahs also couldn't handle the tight turns of the track. Built for straight-line speed on the African savanna, they struggled with the stadium's corners.

After just two race meetings, the experiment was abandoned. The following Saturday drew even bigger crowds for what would be the last time cheetahs ever strutted around a British greyhound track.

The Man Behind the Madness

Gandar-Dower wasn't done making headlines. He later caused an uproar at the Queen's Club when he brought a male cheetah into the bar on a leash. Because apparently shipping wild predators across continents for entertainment wasn't eccentric enough.

The twelve Kenyan cheetahs remain a peculiar footnote in both British sports history and animal welfare—a brief moment when someone genuinely thought big cats and betting slips could coexist in the English countryside.

Helen's 55 mph sprint stands as proof that the fastest land animal on Earth can beat a greyhound. They just can't be bothered to do it twice.

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