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Portesham’s Worldwide Cat Racing Hoax

In June 1936, the people of Portesham, near Weymouth came up with an ingenious way to promote their village - cat racing. For newspapers it was the ‘silly season’ and there was a shortage of serious news, so Portesham’s cat racing exploits spread like a wild fire.

Daily Express thought it was a good enough story to send a photographer to the village, so several stray  cats were rounded up for him at the inn. The newspaper announced that the 440 yards four-lane track would be open in August and that the Dorset moggies would be chasing an electric rat. If challenged, the licensee of the King’s Arms agreed to confirm that a well-attended experimental cat race had already taken place. It was said that female cats were the better chasers and that tailless cats were not allowed to enter. The cats would wear different coloured ribbons around their necks so that punters could more easily recognise their favourites. Owners would have to pay a two shillings and sixpence (12.5p) fee to enter their feline speedsters into the Portesham Races. Cat racing was heralded as the country’s newest sport.

Liverpool Echo picked up the story claiming that 45 cats were undergoing strict training in the village. They reckoned that Portesham would have the first cat racing track in Britain. Other local newspapers like the Aberdeen Press & Journal, Hartlepool North Daily Mail and the Leicester Chronicle also reported on the tale. 

News of cat racing at Portesham spread worldwide. Even the Times of India ran with the story suggesting that cat racing could become as popular as dog racing. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that cat racing meetings had already taken place and consideration was being given to replacing the rat with a piece of electric cheese. An Adelaide newspaper reckoned Portesham could become a Mecca for cats. A New Zealand newspaper claimed the best age of a cat for racing was between two and three years and that two likely champions had already been discovered in Portesham.

(Source: Daily Express - 29th June 1936 and  The Dorset Village Book (1984) by Harry & Hugh Ashley.)

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