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Curtis started the 1983 Derby with his main hopes resting on litter brothers Yankee Express and Copper Beeches. Yankee came fresh to the classic, gaining a free entry with a record-breaking run in a Derby Trial Stake at Portsmouth. He flew round the 438m in 26.81, winning by 1034 lengths. The Derby was run without seeding and despite being drawn in trap three, Yankee won his qualifying round in 30.37 for White City’s 500m. He went on to win his first round heat in 29.28 and in the second round he beat Debbycot Lad and The Stranger in 29.44
Copper Beeches gave a surprisingly good show in the early stages. Berthed in trap three, he overcame the handicap of his draw with a fine win in 29.55. In the first round the wide runner was given trap one and ran a determined race to qualify in third place. He was rewarded with trap six in the second round and beat On Spec by 23/4 lengths in 29.59. The two brothers, who were kennelled together at the Curtis range, had five days to wait for the quarter final stage. But disaster struck — they both went off-colour.
“I don’t believe in making excuses,” said Curtis. “But two days before the race they both had a touch of enteritis. I didn’t tell anyone – anything you say at Derby time gets in the papers. But I was worried. They weren’t too bad. They were fit enough to run, but I knew it had affected them. I thought: ‘If only I can get them through this round they’re bound to improve.”
The brothers were drawn in the same heat, Copper Beeches again being saddled with the red jacket. Yankee was luckier, drawn in trap six, but when the traps opened he failed to show. Copper Beeches inevitably got caught up in first bend trouble and the Curtis dogs finished fourth and fifth. Lisnamuck, Game Ball and Haymaker Mack went on to qualify for the semis. That year classic honours went to I’m Slippy, who won the final by a neck in 29.40.
“Yankee ran better in the Derby than I ever imagined he would,” said Curtis. “He didn’t like the big tracks like Brighton and White City. They were too big a gallop for him. He was brilliant at tight bends. But to begin with, he was coming out and doing the same things as Game Ball, who was favourite to win. Even so, I could never bring myself to believe he was going to win the Derby.”
There was some compensation for Curtis on Derby final night when Sandy Lane won the Dorando Marathon by 61/2 lengths in 60.06 for the 962m and Sir Winston set a new track record in the BBC 2 Chase recording 30.38 over the 500m course, which included seven hurdles.
A repeat raid on the Scurry Gold Cup was the next target for Yankee Express and Curtis also entered Sammy Bear (Mexican Chief-Lady Laurdella) as a second string. Yankee stormed his way through the rounds of the classic, making the opposition look like graders. He won his first round heat by 41/2 lengths in 26.88 for the 442m and he crossed the line 4 lengths ahead in the second round in 27.13. In the semi-final he was drawn against Sammy Bear and the two turned the night into a Curtis benefit with a one-two finish. Yankee got the verdict by 2 lengths in a winning time of 26.90.
The line-up for the 1983 final in trap order was: Thor (5-1), Squire Cass (3-1), Ebony Chieftan (5-1) Yankee Express (8–11 fav), Adventure Kit (12-1), Sammy Bear (10-1). “It was a great day for the Scurry,” said Curtis. “Whisper Wishes, who went on to win the Derby the following year, got as far as the semis and it was a cracking line-up.”
It was a blistering hot night for the final and on the journey from Brighton to Slough Curtis had to keep sponging his dogs down in a bid to keep them cool. “But when it came to it, Yankee made it all look so easy,” he said. “He hit the boxes and bang — he was gone.” He was a length ahead of Ebony Chieftan at the first bend and then drew away to lead unchallenged to the finishing line. He beat Squire Cass, who had come through on the rails, by 41/4 lengths in a winning time of 26.84 – only 10 spots outside the track record. Thor ran on gamely after first bend bunching to finish third and Sammy Bear was fourth. Yankee, who had now been beaten only once in his last 18 races, earned a place in the record books as the third dog to win the classic twice in its 51-year history.
The Curtis team were now in such brilliant form, they were often competing against each other for honours. In the Essex Vase Copper Beeches and Kasama Trac both reached the £3,000 final. Copper Beeches won his heat and semi-final and started at 9–4 for the decider. Kasama Trac ran second in both opening rounds and was on offer at a generous 14–1. In the final, honours went to Winning Line with Kasama Trac in second place 11/2 lengths adrift and Copper Beeches just 2 lengths behind in third place.
Yankee Express and Copper Beeches were both invited to compete in the Select Stakes at Wembley, although neither showed their best form and finished in the last placings as the youngster Whisper Wishes stormed to victory. But it was newcomer The Jolly Norman, (Knockrour Brandy-Breeze Valley), the latest product from Jane Hicks’ range, that provided the opposition for Yankee in the Sussex Cup.
“I knew Yankee didn’t run Brighton that well but I felt we had a duty to show him to the Brighton racegoers,” said Curtis. “He was the track’s star and the supporters never got a chance to see him.” Yankee did not disappoint his public in the first rounds winning his preliminary heat in 30.04 for the 515m and then beating The Jolly Norman by one length in the semi-final. But in the final The Jolly Norman showed his best form to win in 30.31, relegating Yankee Express to fifth place.
Jondy, litter brother to The Jolly Norman, was also showing promise, reaching the final of the British Breeders Forum Produce Stakes at Wembley after his brother was eliminated in the second round. And he was runner-up in the Produce Stakes at Wembley when Glatton Grange crossed the line 43/4 lengths in front, recording 29.25 for the 490m. The Jolly Norman finished in third place just 1/2 a length adrift.
In the Crayford Vase over 462m Curtis again had two runners in the final — Sammy Bear and Cashen Son and as it turned out there was nothing to choose between them. Sammy Bear, who had finished second in the Midland Grand Prix at Leicester started as 5-2 favourite for Crayford’s £3,000 prize. But Cashen Son (Jimsun-Hinty Lady), on offer at 5-1, was the first to show as the traps went up. He steered a wide course at the bend allowing the John Gibbons trained Gentle Sentanta to take the lead. She looked an easy winner at the third bend but Sammy Bear came through with a challenge and Cashen Son rallied on the outside. The Curtis pair crossed the line together, dead-heating for first place in a winning time of 28.53.
Sandy Lane was continuing to plunder the open race circuit and notched up another track record, this time at her home track when she clocked 59.66 for the 970m – a record which still stands today. She then took her place in the 1983 Cesarewitch. But Jo’s Gamble the dog she beat in the TV Trophy, had the edge over her in this competition. She finished third behind him in the semis and fourth in the classic decider when Jerry Fisher’s runner took honours winning in 50.90 for Belle Vue’s 815m.
Yankee Express was below par when he finished second to Creamery Cross in the Select Stakes at Leicester, but he went on to win the John Power Special Invitation race at Walthamstow. He was an automatic selection for the Anglo-Irish International team — but he failed to show his best either at White City or Shelbourne Park. He thrived on the tight circuits and at Harringay he set a new track record of 28.28 for the 475m when he beat Glatton Grange in the Classic Select Stakes — a time that will never be bettered.
It was an outstanding year for Curtis, capped by Copper Beeches reaching the final of the Gold Collar at Catford and Sir Winston ending his distinguished career by notching up ten wins in a row, including victories in the National Hurdles final at Brighton and the Oliver Humphries final at Wembley.
For the first time in his career, the honours were heaped on Curtis. He was Trainer Of The Year, Yankee Express was voted Greyhound Of The Year, Sandy Lane was Bitch Of The Year. And just to cement the Hicks-Curtis connection, Yankee’s dam Kings Comet was Brood Bitch Of The Year. Certainly Curtis had his stars — but it was a year when the whole kennel performed exceptionally well. Curtis was getting the very best from every dog on his strength and his owners were receiving their rewards as the prize money poured in. Nine of his top dogs earned £2,000 or more in major competitions. It would have been a very different story in racehorse stables, but in greyhound racing circles it was a major achievement.
Amazingly, Curtis’s run of success continued into the New Year. He had three in the final of the Coronation Cup at Southend — Shelton Song (Echo Spark-Candlemaid), Kasama Trac and Blue Shirt (Shady Monkey-Tour Tralee), and they finished in that order. Shelton Song got the verdict by 3/4 of a length recording 40.58 for the 647m and Kasama Trac beat Blue Shirt by a further length. Just over a week later Blue Shirt and Kasama Trac were again lined up against each other — this time competing in the final of the £1,500 Mecca Stayers Stakes at Hackney. Kasama Trac was on offer at 11–2 after winning his heat in 43.12 for the 683m and then qualifying in third place for the final. But Blue Shirt was totally unfancied at 33–1 after coming third in his heat and then being beaten 834 lengths as Lisa King stormed to a 42.82 win in the semi-finals.
The final was marred by Paddy Milligan’s charge Millers Corner breaking his hock, but Blue Shirt was a revelation. He flew the traps and hung on to win by 3/4 of a length in 42.08 from the favourite Lisa King. Kasama Trac finished 13/4 lengths behind in third place. No-one was more surprised than Curtis at Blue Shirt’s sudden show of pace.
“The dog had done nothing at Brighton so I suggested to the owners that we tried him at Southend in the Coronation Cup,” he said. “Seeing how he ran there, we entered him for the Hackney competition. But he was disappointing so we took him back to Southend for a minor open race. After that he came out and won in style.”
This story illustrates just how shrewd Curtis can be in his assessment of a greyhound. It took him no time to work out that Blue Shirt needed constant change to keep his mind on the job — and the trainer was prepared to put himself out in order to give him the stimulation he needed. “We were lucky that the dog had enough pace to go on the open race circuit,” said Curtis. “That made all the difference to him.”
The result was that the July 1981 whelp, who would have struggled in graded company at Brighton, picked up a handsome share of open race trophies and prize money. He reached the final of the BBC TV Trophy at Wimbledon, was runner-up in the Cearns Memorial, and won the Douglas Tyler Gold Trophy at Wembley. His best performance was in the Scot Grange Trophy at permit track Henlow.
He won his heat in a record-breaking time of 45.50 for the 730m-a record that still stands — and then went on to win the final in 46.15, beating Decoy Alice by 91/4 lengths.
There are not many trainers with 70 dogs on their strength who would travel to a small permit track to take part in a competition – even when it was worth £1,000 to the winner. But Curtis has always been tireless in his efforts to find the right competition for his dogs.
“I think the permit tracks are under-estimated,” he said. “Henlow or Rye House give you as good a run as anywhere. I would never hesitate to take a dog to those sort of tracks. The only way they fall down is not making a big enough fuss when they get sponsors to the track. They lack the style that is present at the bigger tracks.” In fact Blue Shirt’s career turned full circle when he returned to Southend the following January to win the Coronation Cup, and was then withdrawn lame after winning his heat and semi-final of the Mecca Stayers Stakes.
Sandy Lane wins at Wimbledon
