FROM THE ARCHIVE – DERBY FEATURE

This Derby feature was published in June 2002. We have updated it where relevant

• The first English Derby contested in 1927 was worth £1,000 to the winner (roughly equivalent to £59K today).
• Nobody knows the origin of the ‘Derby roar’ though it was first recognised by the Greyhound Express in 1949 under the headline “Listen Tonight And You Will Hear It.”
• From 1932 until 1970, the Derby was for 48 runners selected by the White City racing manager and was completed in 14 days.
• Seeding was introduced for the first time in 1971 but was scrapped for the last two White City Derbys in 1983 and 1984. All subsequent Wimbledon Derbys have been seeded.
• Sporting Life journalist Reg Potter had been trying to get seeding banned since it was first introduced.
• The first Greyhound Derby was recorded and shown on the BBC in 1952. The first live broadcast was in 1956 with Brian Johnston as the commentator. But the BBC steadfastly refused to broadcast radio coverage of the event.
• From 1935 to the present day, just two men have overseen the running of the Derby, Percy Brown (1935-73) and the current GRA senior racing manager Bob Rowe (1974-). (Since then, the list has extended to Simon Harris, Derek Hope, Gary Matthews, Chris Page and Jason Smith – assuming we haven’t missed anybody).
• The first three home in the 1927 Derby, Entry Badge, Ever Bright and Elder Brother were all owned by Edwin Baxter.
• Patricia’s Hope and Mutts Silver were both buried in the veterinary hospital grounds at the GRA kennels in Northaw.
• Probably the unluckiest Derby owner was George Flintham “the Agha Khan of greyhound racing”. He owned ten Derby finalists including beaten favourites Ballycurreen Garrett (7-4f) and Galtee Cleo (4-5f) but never won the event. Cleo came closest when beaten half a length in the 1953 final.
• The record number of finalists for any trainer was the 23 sent out by Jack Harvey. They included two winners Mile Bush Pride and Davesland. Great rival Leslie Reynolds who went out six winners from 16 finalists. Harvey (ex Harringay) and Reynolds contributed to the record breaking nine Wembley based Derby winners. But no one can match Charlie Lister MBE who sent out SEVEN Derby winners.
• Only two women trainers have ever won the Derby: Marie Yate who trained Fine Jubilee (1936) and Barbara Tomkins who trained John Silver (1970) and I’m Slippy (1983).
• The first superstar of the track, Mick The Miller, developed distemper as a pup and didn’t win his first race until he was 22 months old.
• Cambridgeshire reared Chittering Clapton had been a 250-1 outsider before winning the 1965 Derby. Salad Dodger, also British bred, was backed by joint owner/trainer Bruno Berwick at 500-1 before the 2014 Derby.
• The first ever Derby winner Entry Badge was a moderate courser who had previously finished runner-up in the minor value 16 dog Mentmore Cup. But he was also the shortest priced winning favourite ever at 1-4f.
• Double Derby winner Mick The Miller was the first greyhound to change hands for more than £1,000. He was sold after winning the 1929 Derby for 2,000 guineas.
• Mondays News was the subject of the most successful ante post bet in the history of the great race. His owner Donald Stewart was laid a bet of £1,000 to sixpence – odds of 40,000-1.
• The closure of Cardiff in 1977 meant the end of the triple crown: the English, Scottish and Welsh Derbys. The first to win it was British bred Trev’s Perfection (1947) who was later exported to the USA. Also successful was Mile Bush Pride (1959) and Patricia’s Hope (1972).
• Priceless Border was the subject of probably the biggest ante post gamble ever. He was backed to lose £150,000 (in 1947!) but had to be withdrawn after developing gastro entiritis before the semis. The following year he was an odds on ante post favourite and duly landed the 1948 Derby.
• The 1930 Derby final was so dominated by Mick The Miller (4-9f), that his five opponents were returned: 8-1, 100-8, and 100-6 each of three.
• Among those who could be listed as the ‘best never to win a Derby’. Few would have greater claim than Local Interprize. He won the Welsh Derby, Scurry Gold Cup, Gold Collar and Cesarewitch but was beaten in two English Derby Finals, including finishing runner-up. Indeed, his trainer Stan Biss probably won more classics than any other trainer who failed to win a Derby.
• The 1954 winning favourite and Irish National Sprint winner Pauls Fun returned to Joe Booth’s kennel, from Leslie Reynolds’ after the big race and continued a brilliant career on the independent circuit. He was buried in the Booth’s back garden.
• The first English Derby was decided after a series of track championships with the first three home in the northern final competing against the first three in the southern final. The result was a south 1-2-3 whitewash.
• In preparation for the 1975 Derby Final, owner Derek Law took Tartan Khan to stand on the platform at Cheddington Station, on the Euston to Glasgow line, and most famous as the scene of the Great Train Robbery. Earlier in his career, the dog had eight consecutive defeats in graded races at White City and Law was asked to take the dog away.
• The 1965 Derby was disrupted by the theft of top puppy Hi Joe from the racing kennels at White City.He was eventually found by police in a Dunstable garage but had been injured and had a wrist pinfired. A peculiarity of a very old law meant a charge could not be made about dog stolen for more than six months. The two defendants were actually charged with theft of the dog’s coat but signed a disclaimer and were never punished.
• Eleven dogs have each sired two Derby winners – no dog has ever fathered three. Only one dam, Mega Delight, has produced three English Derby winners: Westmead Hawk (twice) and Westmead Lord.
• 1940 saw the only wartime Derby. After the first round, held at White City, strong political pressure saw greyhound racing cancelled at the track. But nine days later the Derby resumed at Harringay. It was won by GR Archduke, previously disqualified for fighting and reckoned by many to have fought in the decider which he won by a neck
• The 1928 Derby winner Boher Ash was bought from promoters GRA for £25. He was trained by Edinburgh based Tom Johnston whose son Tom trained Westpark Mustard.
• The Derby consolation was introduced in 1935.
• The 1967 final was contested by four sons of Crazy Parachute, including litter brothers Tric Trac and Spectre who finished first and second. (Brothers Dorotas Wildcat and Droopys Vic finished first and third in 2017)
• Seldom Led, the dog who beat Mick The Miller in his third Derby Final had been sold as a youngster for £5.
• The early Derbys were hit by twin scourges: fighting and doping. In cases where dogs fought, there were stewards posted on every bend, races were always re-run – often only 30 minutes after the first running.
• Nobody knows how many dogs were nobbled by dopers. Connections of 1952 ante post favourite Magourna Reject and 1941 fancy Maiden’s Boy believed their dogs had been ‘got at’.
• In 1946 an offer of 7,000 guineas was refused for Quare Times. (That would equate to roughtly £305K today)
• Come On Dolores, was sold in whelp with a litter that would include the 1971 winner Dolores Rocket, for £375. She had been owned by Ernie Gaskin but he had been forced to sell her shortly before she produced the litter when his father died.Rocket was born in Surrey and schooled at Aldershot, was from a disputed mating.Her dam was covered by both Newdown Heather and then Monalee Champion.Although the pups were born 63 days after the Monalee Champion mating – the ICC insisted on registering the litter as being by Newdown Heather.
• The 1949 heroine Narrogar Ann is the only Derby winner sired by a Waterloo Cup winner. (“She was heavily in season in the final and none of the dogs would pass her” recalled one senior trainer recently) Ann later threw 1952 Derby winner Endless Gossip, from a mating with the 1948 winner Priceless Border.
• Fine Jubilee was watched by a record crowd when winning the 1936 Derby Final. It was estimated at ‘just under 90,000’
• Daws Dancer (1953) was the youngest ever Derby winner at 22 months old. Photo timing was introduced for the first time in that final.
• Trainer Nick Savva admitted that he had only one fear for the ‘98 English decider – a storm. In 1997 Toms The Best had made the semis but fretted badly at thunder and lightning. It seemed lightening would strike again a year later as a massive storm hit the track at kenneling causing flooding of the track. But by race time, the weather had eased and Tom duly became the only hound to in over 70 years to complete the English/Irish double. He was also only a length from landing the Scottish Final when second to kennelmate Larkhill Jo.
• Double Derby winner Rapid Ranger was bought as a pup with three littermates for a combined total of £1,000. Reared in Wigan he had to be fed and travel alone but slept on a settee with a cat. He made his debut in B6 at Stainforth and was beaten in two of his first three graded races. He was later sold for a reputed £17,000 but reached four Derby finals (1 Scottish 1 Irish) and won over £115,000 in prize money
• Top hurdler Barrowside scared off the opposition so thoroughly that he was unable to get a race over the jumps.In desperation, the dog was tried on the flat in the 1954 Derby. Although eliminated, he returned in 1955 and finished runner-up – having won the Grand National two months earlier.
• The longest sequence of winning Derby favourites is five: 1996-2000.
• Harrow Glamour was a moderate grader who was retired as a pet with her owner. But a council order meant one of the owners two retired greyhounds had to be re-homed. Glamour ended up with East Grinstead farmer Frank Hill who decided to breed his first litter of greyhounds. He missed the day of mating to his chosen stud dog, was forced to using a dog he knew nothing about and duly produced the 1957 Derby winner Ford Spartan.
• Only three dogs have contested three English Derby Finals – Mick The Miller Wild Woolley and Mile Bush Pride.
• In the first round of the 1962 Derby, all eight favourites were beaten, four finished last. The top eight in the ante post betting were eliminated.
• The 1964 Derby winner Hack Up Chieftain was the last of the 48 runners selected to run in the event.
• Shanless Slippy was chasing his 13th consecutive win in the 1996 Derby Final. Trainer Dolores Ruth was staying at Tony Meek’s kennel in Gloucestershire. Asked whether Dolores was superstitious about ‘unlucky 13’ Meek quipped: “No problem, we’ll give him a win at Glastonbury on Tuesday.”
• Long Spell was sold for a British record £50,000 before the start of the 1981 Derby – he went out in the first round.
• Not Flashing’s Irish owner Frank Cavlan was the first to congratulate winning trainer Randy Singleton after the 1967 final won by Camira Flash. The crowd were more hostile. Booing and jeering erupted as winning owner HRH Prince Philip collected his trophy. Many believed Flash had been unfairly promoted to the final – he had finished fourth in the semis – with the unfair disqualification of Not Flashing for fighting. With Witch’s Smoke second, it was a disaster for the punters – the first two home returned at 100-7 and 100-8. After the controversy, the rules were changed and eliminated dogs could no longer be promoted. Ironically this caused the next great outbreak of crowd trouble eight year later when Shamrock Point was clearly robbed of a position in the ‘75 Derby Final when taken off the track by the fighting Lively Band.
• Only three dogs have returned from defeat in a Derby final to win the event the following year: Future Cutlet, Mile Bush Pride and the 1995 winner Moaning Lad.
• The 1970 Derby was the first where dogs were invited to qualify from non-betting trials to decide the 48 runners, rather than have them selected by the racing manager. 125 took part in the trials – but the first two in the ante post betting, Cals Pick and Valiant Ray, failed to qualify.
• Super Rory remains the shortest priced favourite beaten in a Derby final. The 4-9 chance had set a new world record of 28.26 for White City’s 525 yards and connections had turned down Freddie Warrell’s bid of £14,000 for their dog. But the fawn was lacklustre when fifth to Patricia’s Hope in the 1972 final. Trainer Noreen Collin reckoned the final night long kenneling and ‘razzmatazz’ had cost the dog his chance. But Rory was also beaten in the Welsh and Scottish Derby finals by Patricia’s Hope. Super Rory went to stud but only for his owner’s own bitches.
• Patricia’s Hope was rated a 33-1 chance to defend his Derby title at the start of the 1973 competition.
• Helen Roche thought she had the solved the problem of being in Lourdes at the time her dog Ballinderry Ash was due to contest the 1991 Derby final. She asked partner Terry Corden to commentate the final on a mobile phone. Unfortunately when the dog hit the front the Nottingam promoter got so excited he dropped the phone and was disconnected.
• The 1981 Derby final was only the ninth race in the career of winner Parkdown Jet.
• The 1976 Derby winner Mutts Silver bought by Sporting Life editorial manager Ray Lancaster at the suggestion of the paper’s greyhound editor, and later NGRC boss Archie Newhouse. Great vision – but not one of the Life journalists tipped ‘Muttsy’ in the ante post selections.
• The last ante post favourite to win the Derby was Chart King. He was prepared for the Derby roar by being played noisy crowd scenes from the ground of ‘a leading Scottish football team’. Local papers asked brothers Ralph and Karl Hewitt if they could dress the dog in the colours of that team for a photo shoot.  Fully aware of the sectarian implications, the Lurgan based brothers refused.
• In 1990 Scottish bred Slippy Blue became only the fourth Derby winner to be sired by a previous winner (I’m Slippy). The others were Sarahs Bunny (Jimsun) John Silver (Faithful Hope) and Endless Gossip (Priceless Border). Sidaz Jack (Westmead Hawk) became the fifth in 2015.
• In the last 50 years, only two finals have been five runner events. They were in 1975 (see above) and in 1998 when Greenwood Flyer was disqualified for fighting in the semis.
• In 1978 the pre-Derby trials were scrapped and the competition was extended to six rounds. For the first time, greyhounds could qualify in trialstakes away from White City. Lacca Champion won his qualifier at Harringay and then went unbeaten through the event.
• Sugarloaf Bunny, the dam of Sarahs Bunny was minutes from being put to sleep after shattering her front leg in a race at Reading. Geoff de Mulder persuaded the vet to operate and the rest as they say. . .
• Owner Laurie James turned down an offer of £70,000 for his dog on the morning of the 1982 Derby Final. It was rejected and Lauries Panther duly won £25,000 plus £50,000 in ante post bets. That was the last occasion that the Derby winner came from trap one. But only two red jacketed finalists have started favourite: Pearls Girl and Curryhills Gara. (Ironically two of the next four finals at Wimbledon were won by trap one runners, Sidaz Jack (2013) and Rio Quattro (2015) though interestingly, the first bend had been redesigned in 2003)
• The Derby consolation was regularly won faster than the final though seldom more impressively than in 1983. I’m Slippy won the final in 29.40. In the consolation, Hay Maker Mack became the only dog ever to break 29.00 for the Derby trip with a 28.96 win.
• The first Wimbledon Derby, was won by local 460/660m grader Pagan Swallow – an ante post outsider at 250-1.
• Until the late 1950s and the building of the current main grandstand, the Wimbledon circuit was the opposite way round with the winning line midway along the current popular side. This switched back again in March 2010.
• Hit The Lid made his racing debut in a graded race at Canterbury where he was beaten. Twelve outings later he won the ‘88 Derby Final. Salad Dodger spent his first 15 races in graded company at Coventry and Romford. His 26th was the final of the 2014 English Derby.
• Some Picture, racing as ‘Major’ won five of his six races on the independents and broke track records at Wishaw, Armadale, and Chesterfield. The fastest Derby winner in the 17 held at Wimbledon (Jaytee Jet would record 28.22 in 2016), he was originally destined to join Harry Williams. But the Sunderland trainer unexpectedly found himself short of kennel space and the dog joined Charlie Lister.
• Palatinus (1929), Mick The Miller (1931) and Droopys Hewitt (1993) 2003 had one thing in common – they all had Derby wins taken away by the stewards. The first two, came as a result of stewards declaring ‘no race’ due to other runners fighting. Hewitt’s came as the result of a positive test recorded earlier in the competition.