The best Sprinter, Middle distance, stayer, Marathon & Hurdler you've ever seen

goodDog

To be fair WALTHAM ABBEY is a good call imo.

A quality stayer in a time when there were a lot of very good staying types around.

In the marathon category I would say STAR OF DROMIN, but most of her form was around the one track.

But there is no way in hell that Scurlogue Champ would have picked her up in a race around the Stow.

LA, how hot was that final? tbh id forgot how hot it was

I said Waltham Abbey l.a. What a truly great dog he was, bit surprised my other choice of 'The Aeroplane' Suncrest Sail hasn't got a few mentions to be honest with you.

Being honest, All I have ever heard since I took an interest in this sport is that Scurlogue
would not pick this up, Scurlogue would not pick that up!!!
To be fair to Scurlogue he nearly always did and probably would!!!
He could catch any dog that he wanted too!!!!! IMO

Except BOB!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hymenstown Wish MB, a personal fav of mine, 28.60ish on the grass straight stow

Star of Dromin ran 13 times over 835m at the Stow and won 12 and was 2nd on the other occasion.

MB - I would back the Champ to beat her anywhere bar the Stow over 8 bends m8.

I will never forget watching the Champ pick up and spit out Keem Rocket at Romford over 750m or his masterclass in picking up the St Leger winner inspite of being stop in his tracks around the last bend at Wembley.

Here is her track record run that still stands today.

Lets hope someone gets the chance to beat it!

http://www.greyhound-data.com/play.htm?video=/video/UK/WSTO/2006/WSTO-2006-0... ADVERTISING.COM STAKES

All about opinions LA..... I'll allow you to be wrong just this once!!!!

Thanks m8

Very big of you

When Waltham Abbey won the Grand Prix at the Stow in 1989 he beat

Chiqita Banana, Hello Blackie, Sard, Hot Fluff and Exile Energy.

Not bad eh?

For those of you who want to see the CHAMP pick up the St Leger winner around Wembley


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBBHclrMcvs&NR=1

Where can we see Champs run at Pterborough when he packed up

Sneaky Liberty won that race.

Champ pulled up lame with a circuit to go.

Bit of a "Sneaky Liberty" bringing that up Eastmead!!!!!!!
Our Champ had been on a night out and was rumoured to have been stoned!!!!

Like a few of the posters on here IMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rumour has it that "Mad Vinnie" ran onto the track to try to make it a no race?

Lame LA  not too sure. Stoned MB not too sure about that either.
Dog was enigmatic but wish we had another like him today great crowd puller.

I have another stayer who I would like to put into the melting pot.  in her time, she was rated the best in the country, "Trans Mercedes".  From behind or the front she was very good.

Remember Trans Mercedes running at the "Wingspares" meeting at Hove.

Got beat that night by Sail on Valerie and Chiqita Banana.

Ravage Again won on the same card.

Those were the days

limited ability
Thanks m8

Very big of you

When Waltham Abbey won the Grand Prix at the Stow in 1989 he beat

Chiqita Banana, Hello Blackie, Sard, Hot Fluff and Exile Energy.

Not bad eh?

What a race that was, I wasn't there but that line up was truly something else. I loved Sard, she smashed out to win The Gold Collar final from trap 4 and I shouted myself hoarse on the terraces that night cheering her home. Hello Blackie was a star as well, great names from the past all of them.

Slippy

I bet you were a Dempseys Whisper supporter?

beat gasking make magic in the final

I was there that night as well l.a. Remind me though it was a long time ago, Dempseys Whisper and Dempseys Duke? The 5 dog got up in the last few yards to nail it right on the lollypop.

I was standing opposite Richardsons joint standing next to Peter Brown that night who was a big owner and punter. At the time he was the biggest punter there. Dempsey got it right at the death from an impossible position on the run in, a storming finish.

make magic was in the final like i said, i think they may have been joint favs,
whisper got 6 and make magic 4 which gasking was well p1ssed off about

Dempseys Whisper won the Gold Collar at Catford and won back to back Grand Prixs at the Stow.

Dempsey Duke came along 2 years later.

Dempseys whisper led all the way as far as i can remember, but make magic
was expected to lead

TMG

I am sure Trans Mercedes also ran in the TV Trophy final that Shropshire Lass won.

Ltd Ability: Not sure but won't argue although wouldn't have thought she'd stay, far too much middle.

No my memory is not that bad, Dempseys Whisper performed a rattling finish to win close home, no way did he lead all the way in that Gold Collar final goodDog. I rushed to the track after playing rugby to make it in time that day.

I just found the race, Dempseys Whisper nailed Make Magic close home from trap 5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grwS2GRLfVM&feature=related

I was right [;)]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z5mEvrtX3Y&feature=related

Westmead Surprise getting the better of Westmead Spirit in 1992 by a short head.

Just for fun, these were the best flapping performers, with their NGRC names.
     SPRINT  1ST  Ravage Again
             2ND  Nervous Paddy
             3RD  Crock OF Gold

      MIDDLE  1ST   Some Picture
              2nd   Springwood Micky (flapping name)
              3rd   Just Right Magic

       STAYERS 1ST   Just Right Magic
               

For those who don t know Just Right Magic won 38 consecutive opens on the flaps winning derby,st ledgers and mostly breaking track records, he was basically unbeatable out the back of a van.

budapest: interesting.  Afraid I can only name one dog who was a true champion on the flaps.  He was trained at Harringay bt was no good in big kennels because he was a one-man-dog.  When he was taken to one man he won everything including beating Dolores Rocket's litter brother Come On Wonder.  The dog's NGRC name was "Oatfield Bow"

Madghost, you mentioned Dont Gambol in your sprint category, do you remember this Scurry final at Clapton ::
1971 final
kinloch jewel..hookaway owlerton
one lost day..mcevoy wimbledon
idle thought..rees wimbledon
banogue tom..heasman private
dont gambol..mcevoy wimbledon
alluvion..kelly clapton

1969 final
lovely morning..miss collin private
ace of trumps..coleman romford
trews.. coleman romford
cheeky boy..coleman romford
tarmons buffalo..miss gleeson wimbledon
pears there.. barker walthamstow

Clapton:  I'm afriad to say I don't.  I saw him run at Charlton over 415 yards.  He trapped last and turned the second bend 10 lengths clear and got done on the line by Fireside Reject.  That was his first run in many weeks.  Once his feet touched the ground he just took off.  You'd see 6 dogs trap in a line, and then, suddenly, he was 5 or 6 lenghts clear before he got to the first bend.

These final line-ups, do I presume correctly you have the race-cards?

Yes , got the cards.. also got a couple of old information books on walthamstow..and harringay, they mention cash for dan standing at stud in an advert giving all his details, I will put them up tomorrow so you can browse them.

I agree with you about dont gambol, I think I only ever saw him at clapton.. but as you say his early pace was breathtaking.

damn i must have watched that race atleast 20x Slippy, tbh its been such a long while since ive seen that i wasnt 100% sure,
if you watch the video to that gaskin was p1ssed off because MM drew 4 in the final, Dempseys won it fair and square.

Pflaps: apple Rambler got caught at Oxford by "At A Price".  He didn't get home so the connections, sensibly as it turned out, went 2-bend open race sprinting with him.

sprinter = Jimmie lollie (seen plenty rack up sequences but this   
boy is unreal)

Middle = Westmead Hawk (the champ enough said)

Stayer = Roxholme girl (had the speed to win a select stakes and a brilliant stayer)

Marathon = ericas equity (in her pomp she was absolutly brilliant and a big fav of mine)

Hurdler = druids mickey jo (speedy on the flat and a brilliant jumper of hurdles won a good renewal of springbok and went on to run up sequences and win champion hurdle)

jimbo27: I nominated "Don't Gambol" as my sprinter having seen him and "Ravage Again", but, to my embarrassment, I have not seen "Jimmy Lollie" run.  This of a greyhound who has 25 wins, 4 seconds and a third from his last 30 races, all opens and all over 2 bends, obviously a special dog.  So I am determined to go out-of-my-way to see this greyhound run and not just once.  Then I can re-evaluate my opinion if neccessary.  This is another example of why it's so interesting to compare dogs of various generations and why I put the "you've ever seen" stipulation on the topic title.  (My embarrassment is highlighted by the fact that I don't and won't go into betting shops any more.  I don't like the amusement arcades they've become).

Anther middle distance dog that I'd like to run pass you, again some good judges I know told me that if it wasn't for his owner, Joe Hayden, refusing to run any of his dogs on grass, "Discretions" would have won The Derby.  He won the Birmingham Cup at the old Perry Barr in 1968, The Derby that year was won by "Camira Flash" who beat "Witches Smoke", (the year "Yellow Printer" fell over in the semi-final).  In 1969, "Sand Star" beat "Kilbelin Style" & "Ploverfield Dan".  I can't say, as I never saw him run.  Anybody have an opinion?

TheMadGhost i can't believe you knew it was at a price who beat apple rambler at oxford..great memory sir

I remember Discretions but I could never have seen him beating Yellow Printer who was desperately unlucky that year. I Don't seem to remember the grass argument from his owner but it's a long time ago now.

An Irish dog called Prince Of Bermuda deserves a mention.I saw him win a 3 dog challenge at White City in the fifties.The dogs were all by the same sire and the challenge was billed who was his best son.Prince of Bermuda led allthe way,he had a very fast sprint clock on his card for Shelbourne and after his win I followed his career.He was the first dog to break 29 round Shelbourne,later he became the only dog ever to break 28 round Cork(the old Western Rd)Those days(50s)they raced over 500yds.He won the Irish Leger that year at Limerick in a TR held for 15 yrs.

Mad Ghost,Earlier you said Yellow Printer was the first dog to break29 round Shelbourne but Prince of Bermuda did it in the 50s I followed his career.I think Malachy McKenna(gers father )trained him.

Discretions  was a fair dog but never Derby class it is true his owner would only run his dogs oo sand

I saw that three dog race at White City.The other two dogs came from Wembley.Gay McKenna,the uncle,trained the winner.It was the dogs first look at White City but I was told that night before McKenna got him he was regularly flapped in Ireland and it wouldnt be a bother.Just shows how a dog improves in the right hands.He was a very good dog.

ravage again, westmead hawk, ballyregan bob, scurlogue champ, kildare slippy.

Hi Budapest,
            My favourite flapping dogs
      sprint:-
            gin n jazz
            superior champ
      middle distance:-
            lacca champion
            swift band
            sheskburn mint
            cricket bunnv
            i`m slippy
      stayers:-
            westmead flash

Wood Lane,I was told before the McKennas got Prince of Bermuda he was flapped regularly at Chapelizard,outside Dublin.Before Bord Na Gcon it was usual to flap good dogs.I must disagree with you about who trained him that night at White City,I think it was Malachy.Ger had gone back to Ireland a couple of years earlier after a dog of the big Birmingham bookie and punter,Billy Cutler,who Ger trained was beaten a distance at Stamford Bridge after Cutler lumped on.It was beat a distance and was found to have been doped.The trainer being held responsible for his staff and dogs in his care.Gay McKenna never trained Prince of Bermuda.

Whitmarsh: quite right, I stand corrected.  I've found a small paragraph which is part of an interview with Ger McKenna that might interest you:

One of his first and fastest dogs was Prince of Bermuda. ‘He was the Master McGrath of that era’, says Ger, regarding the dogs’ portrait on the sitting room wall. ‘He won everything but the Derby and broke records on every track he went on. He was the first dog to break 29 seconds at Shelbourne. That was the greatest moment in greyhound racing. The whole place was on fire Prince of Bermuda was a supremely intelligent dog, says Ger, and the only one he has had who genuinely seemed to understand what he was saying. However, he was also typical of a brilliant dog that ‘never bred nothing’ even though he ‘got a bitch every day of the week’.

The Dubliners did a song about Master McGrath if anyone hasn't heard it before here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LB8ugXco88

Mad Ghost,Thanks for that article,could I ask where that was written?It appears that I too stand corrected in as much as Ger trained the dog.Perhaps he trained it but the old man held the licence at the time,but I could well be wrong.Maybe Prince of Bermuda was not a "competition"dog as thinking about it brilliant that he was I think the Irish Leger was the only competition he won.

Whitmarsh: Here is the link for the full interview:

www.turtlebunbury.com/.../interviews_sports_ger_mckenna.html - Cached

Many Thanks Mad Ghost but I will have to get help with that.Once again,thanks.

Whitmarsh:  If you want I can print on here for you if you're having difficulty opening the link.

When Prince of Bermuda won the Irish St Leger it was held at the beginning of the year not at the time it is held now.

Thanks very much Mad Ghost,That was a marvellous read.

some good posts but when you talk about best flapper =any thing joe booth had a lead on. a master

Madghost

In your initial post you mentioned a dog called Prince of Roses, and you say that you never saw it run.. I also dont think I saw it run, but something about it seems to stir my memory for some reason.. do you know anything about it or what era.. probably early to middle 60s?

Prince of Roses won Irish Puppy Derby 1965 Knocked out of English Derby 2nd round 1966.
Was a son of Oregon Prince and I seem to remember he had tremendous early pace.

My memory may be wrong but I seem to remember a dog of this name running at Harringay in the 60s.

Prince of Roses that is.

Clapton

I never saw "Prince of Roses" run but a friend of mine remembers him running over 500 yards at Stamford Bridge and another lad I knew had a pup by him trained by Graham Sharp when he was a private trainer, I'm afraid I can't remember the dog's name.  But friends of mine said he was vert fast and wasn't that far short of "Don't Gambol", (must have been some dog)

The only information I can gleam about "Prince of Roses" is that he was a brindle dog born in January 1964, he was by Oregon Prince ex Cockleshell Rose.  He won the 1965 Irish Puppy Derby over 525 yards at Harolds Cross in 29.40 secs., (fastest time of the year at Harolds Cross), on 1 October 1965.  There was adog called "Forest Noble" who won the 1972 Pall Mall at Harringay who was probably his best dog as a sire.

Great picking mint 2 the sprint i wood add TMcgarrity,s brindle dog dont no its registered name held 7sprint trac records was called rover at Bolton middle dist Glamour Hobo Distance Salsbury

pflaps:  Thank you for your post dated 3 December, but I'm afraid I don't have the memory you think I have.  If you want to find a dog's racing record go to http://www.racingpost.com, on the right-hand side just below the top you'll see "search", type the dog's name in and hit return.  When the dog's name comes up, click on it and a separate pop-up will appear with the dog's full racing career.  I think they only started this about 20 or so years ago, (eg can't find the record for Sherry's Prince, Trans Mercedes and several others going back from 1990).

Is "Jimmy Lollie" on the wain?  Has "Rotar Wing" finally got his measure and is he improving with age?  I notice that "Jimmy Lollie" isn't favourite tonight at Nottingham for the second race running against "Rotar Wing".  We had a situation some years ago when "Sherry's Prince" was constantly having close races with "Derry Palm" & "Adamstown Valley".  Are we about to get these "match" races between "Jimmy Lollie" & Rotar Wing" or has "Rotar Wing" finally got his measure.  Fascinating when you conside there is only a month's difference in their age!

Well done "Jimmy Lollie" and at odds against.

Good to read again.

Confusing me these old dragged up posts. Doesn't take a lot!

Sure I posted but cant remember what I said. This might be slightly different but think I'd say for seeing dogs live:

Ravage Again
Fearless Action
Roxholme Girl
Kildare Slippy
Scurlogue Champ

If you had already posted then all you had to do was check.

Sprinter ravage again
Middle distance some picture ( ben )
Stayer spring rose
Marathon suncrest sail ( jim )
Hurdler el tenor ( teddy ) the guvnor 102 wins.

Only 1 of these dogs i didn,t work with. I spotted him early when he flapped and was there to lump on. On his ngrc debut at shawfield. Not a bad little c.v.
Apologies to any i didn,t pick. There were so many to choose from.

brilliant thread nearly seven years on and I stand by my original picks sad that no dog since has surpassed  them

Great to read it again .. Memories are sadly all what's left of that great era.

Sparrow, youre welcome to trawl through hundreds of posts but I'll pass

woodmanchester    16 Jun 17 11:32 
Sparrow, youre welcome to trawl through hundreds of posts but I'll pass.





Woody, that posting was in 2010 the year before you joined so you obviously could not have posted on it.
And you might have learnt a thing or two if you had read those posts.

Original post before I joined but who's to say I didn't post at a later date, if the thread is still currently going

Youre becoming a pain anyway Sparrow, go bug someone else!

Was this the last good post

21 Dec 10 08:40 was the last post on the thread before Sparrow brought it back up Woody, you posted directly after that. It therefore is absolutely impossible you posted on this thread before unless you where posting under a different username

That's me told. Might have posted on a similar thread then

more bull again surprise surprise

Lovely thread, I just read it all pillar to post. Whitmarsh and Mr.Memory are much missed, both of them had incredible knowledge and memories of the sport from yesteryear.

woody if you ever want to re read the utter diatribe you sometimes post the box opposite betfair community allows this very simple

How do you choose?  The fastest?  The most successful?  Very difficult to compare past and successive generations.  For me nothing could match Sherry's Prince in the hurdling sphere.  He won three Grand Nationals - two after breaking a hock - and was never headed in any heat thereof.  Yet nothing can be taken away from the achievement of El Tenor which can hardly be regarded as anything other than outstanding.
The raw speed of Yellow Printer was simply awesome yet the track craft and brilliance of Westmead Hawk was utterly unique in my experience. How do we ignore Some Picture who simply glided to his English Derby win, won the Scottish and made the Irish final.   The the non-classic winners like Ballymac Vic who made three Derby Finals and but for rank bad luck could have won them all.
Cranog Bet.
Ballyregan Bob.
And so many others who we never saw but have read about from the past. An impossible task.  But the reminiscing is brilliant!

Jun 17, 2017 -- 6:40PM, SlippyBlue wrote:

Lovely thread, I just read it all pillar to post. Whitmarsh and Mr.Memory are much missed, both of them had incredible knowledge and memories of the sport from yesteryear.

great read , one of the best threads

Dare say Irish hardly never goes to the dogs so best he's seen the odd A2 winner!

As has already been said, this is one of the best threads posted on this forum and we don't need it spoilt by idiotic remarks.

Chill out Sparrow, youre far too serious

Don't know who it was on this thread but a contributor was fervent - and probably rightly so - in his belief that Dolores Rocket was the greatest bitch of all time.  I though he, and maybe all, would enjoy this article I dug out of an old Greyhound Magazine, about her and her 1971 Derby win.  Written by Jerry Monk of the G.R.A. in 1984 - that fateful year!

My most memorable Derby, by Jerry Monk.

Dolores Rocket

“How about doing a piece on ‘My most memorable Derby’, asked the Editor.
“O.K.”, says I and it was only twenty four hours later that the great truth struck home that up until then the most important race of the year for me had always been the Laurels, and had the question been directed to that classic then there would have been no problem.  Clonalvy Pride sweeping off the last bend to capture the 1961 event is the one I cannot forget
Since I transferred to White City in 1976 my usual view on the classic has been part of the third and fourth bends, glimpsed over Harry Carpenter’s left shoulder ( senior forumites will remember with nostalgia how Harry put his inimitable words to the BBC pictures of the televised live Derby Final, in that long past era when the BBC actually rated greyhound racing as a worthy spectacle ) with other bits and pieces seen on the TV monitor – not exactly the stuff of which memorable experiences are made.
Had I not been on holiday at the time – having already been booked for that before being transferred to the Derby scene – I might well have placed Mutts Silver’s 1976 success on the top of the heap, if for no other reason than I had spotlighted him in my newsletter when he was on offer at 200/1!
Having thunk about it there can be but one Final which stands out from the ten or so I have been able to watch in their entirety, but I was nearly side-tracked to the 1967 decider, if only for the tremendous enthusiasm of the coach loads of fans from Sheffield who descended on White City to see Nat Pinson’s Tric Trac beat his litter comrade Spectre – although if truth be told I had been hoping and my pocket praying to see Charlie Knight’s Shady parachute succeed.
Yes, it just has to be the 1971 success of Dolores Rocket, trained privately by Bert White and owned by him and his three brothers Len, Arthur and John.  This black bundle of energy was better known to her friends and admirers Cindy – and I like to count myself as one of her greatest admirers!
I have to admit to being biased because of course because I ‘marked her up’ for her NGRC registration when she was but a baby and arranged her early trials at Wimbledon.  All of us there would eventually take to her so much that we began to think of her as a Wimbledon greyhound.
However, one notable exception was Ernie Hollanby, whose racing and trials duty was, and will be again when he returns from a bout of sickness, to operate the hare break at the pick up and put a cover over the hare.  ‘Cindy’ was more than keen to chase and although on her first trial she just looked bemused when the hare disappeared she has different ideas the next time it happened.  Deciding that Ernie was the culprit she went for him instead!
For her next trial Ernie retreated into his little enclosure and closed the four foot front door behind him – but Cindy was not one to forgive or forget, and came over the top after him!  Enough is enough thought Ernie and thereafter on any Dolores Rocket appearance the trainer, or one of the brothers, had to be at the pick up to grab her before she grabbed Ernie. 
Anyway, came the 1971 Derby and, after wins in the first and second rounds Cindy survived the semi finals by the narrowest of margins, gaining the third qualifying spot by a short head from ( the great ) Sole Aim.  I was absolutely thrilled when my boss Con Stevens invited me to join with him and his party at their table in the White City restaurant on the big night.  It was my first experience such magnificence and was I impressed?!  The seal was set on the occasion when Cindy moved up so strongly down the back straight that only the sight of hare stop man Ernie Hollanby might have stopped her!

The Greyhound Magazine recorded/reported the final as follows.

English owned, trained and bred Dolores Rocket romped home a meritorious and popular winner of the 1971 Derby over 525 yards at White City.
Supreme Fun (6) was the first to show, followed by Leap And Run (3), Ivy Hall Flash (4), Cobbler (5), Moordyk Champion (1) and Dolores Rocket (2).
Supreme Fun edged out wide at the turn allowing Leap And Run to take over.  Cobbler and Ivy Hall Flash badly crowded on the inside.  Along the back straight Leap And Run continued to lead Supreme Fun with Moordyk Champion coming on the scene from the half, and Dolores Rocket making up ground fast.
Rounding the last bend Dolores Rocket, who usually takes an inside course, came around her field in game style to outrun Supreme Fun by half a length, to land the £10,000 first prize in 28.74 secs.
Dolores Rocket ( Newdown Heather – Come On Dolores ) is the first bitch to win the Derby since Narrogar Ann in 1949, and only the third to do so in 41 years.

Dolores Rocket certainly was a great bitch and along with Cranog Bet among the best I've seen. That 1967 final was a great event and what a great litter that was with both Spectre and Tric Trac 1st and 2nd.

Spectre II and Tric Trac
SPECTRE II, whelped in February 1965 at the kennels of Leo Stack at Duagh, Co. Kerry, was from one of the greatest litters in the history of track racing. It included Tric Trac, winner of the 1967 English Derby, and Forward King, winner of the 1968 English St Leger and more than £5,000 in prize money.

Forward Flash was also in the litter and, but for injury, might well have been the best of them all. In the few months of 1966 in which he did race, he won the Juvenile Stakes at Wembley, the Manchester Cup at White City, Manchester, and the Mackeson Cup at Walthamstow with further great things expected of him.

The litter, of five dogs and four bitches, was by Crazy Parachute out of Supreme Witch. The dam, Witching Grand, was one of a litter that included Mile Bush Pride, whelped in 1956 and who won the English Derby in 1959.

The 1967 Derby in which Spectre II and Tric Trac contested was sensational in that owner, Nat Pinson from Sheffield, and trainer, Ron Hookway of Sheffield Stadium, had the first two home in the Derby. It was also the first time that two from the same litter had finished first and second in a classic event. Although Spectre II was made favourite, Tric Trac was in trap one and, an excellent railer, he made full use of his position to win by a length.

It was a Derby final full of outstanding greyhounds which included Shady Parachute, who also contested the 1968 final and again finished in fourth, a great sire of the future, Silver Hope, and Laurels winner Ambiguous. Tric Trac was retired to stud after his great win but was brought back to the track the following year and won the Wimbledon Champion Stakes.

Sadly, he died shortly afterwards following a kennel accident. He was track record holder for many years over 525yds at his home track, Sheffield.

Spectre II continued to win in top company during 1967, taking the 880yds BBC TV Trophy at Brighton in a record time of 50.09sec, and the Midlands St Leger at Wolverhampton. Retired to stud in 1968, he was to prove one of the greatest sires in track racing. One of his first sons was Black Andrew, who won the 1971 Laurels. Another was Spectre Jockey, who ran up to Down Your Way in the Gold Collar and in the same year, 1971, won the prestigious Evening Standard Cup and All England Stakes.

Spectre II must rank with Monalee Champion, Newdown Heather, Clonalvy Pride and Westmead County as the most outstanding sires of the late 1970s.

Among Spectre II’s other famous offspring was Tartan Khan, who won the Derby and St Leger in 1975, emulating Dolores Rocket, winning connections £23,000 in that year alone. Then there were Stormy Spirit, winner of the 1977 St Leger; Glin Bridge, who won £8,000 in prize money and became Britain's leading stud dog.

Shamrock Sailor; Paradise Spectre and Rita’s Choice, one of Spectre II’s greatest sons were other tremendously gifted off-spring. A black dog like his sire, Rita’s Choice was to earn himself the title of best Irish track greyhound of 1973, winning several major long distance events, including the Corn Cuchulainn at Harolds Cross, the Cesarewitch at Navan and the Sean Graham 700 at Dunmore Park.

Forward King, the other excellent member of Leo Stack’s wonderful litter, won the St Leger and the Scottish St Leger, the only dog ever to have done so. He also won the Wembley Gold Cup and the Stewards’ Cup and, in 70 top class open events, won half of them. Yet he might never have reached a race track at all. When he was 12 months old, he escaped from his kennels and lived wild on the Yorkshire moors for many weeks before being recaptured!

Thanx for posting that honcho. I had been racing for 7 yrs at the time. I was 11. My father used to get the greyhound owner literally a couple o sheets o paper stapled together. With sales trial results and how much the dogs cost. I may have read she won the derby in that or another greyhound magazine.great times. If only we could go back to those times.

Terrific sparrow.
Shamrock Point - is another great but a non-winner of the Derby. Twice winner of the Derby consolation final after two of the worst pieces of semi final bad luck ever known - twice in faster time than the final.

Talking of rapid dogs not to win the Derby Knockrour Slave. It was just before my time but DeMulder told me the dog would have been a certain winner but for a wider than ideal draw in the final. Scrambling for rails, he couldn't get round Geoff told me. By far the fastest dog in the competition by all accounts and he went on to sire some proper rockets, like Ard Knock who could have quite easily have won the Derby himself

read that again please everyone
yes i said GEOFF yes GEOFF DEMULDER
a man i personally knew
listen to me now , i need your attention
by name dropping i know i have you


sad case

there was an english guy at galway races
love to meet gary he said
gary who ? gary off atr .....
come on then lets go and say hello
walked into paddock "hello gary please say hello to this ...(tw4t came to mind)
gary said sure, starts chatting ....english fellah ga ga
after that it was my mate gary all week !!!!

I'm surprised you lasted the week!  It strikes me you don't suffer them gladly!   

Well worth another read.