Fastest greyhound, ever?

desperate

Think Walshes Hill quite exceptional by modern-day standards. Jimmy Lollie and Ningbo Jack were rapid animals, also

Ballyregan bob

tims crow

. Would like to see Ballyregan Bob be fast enough to beat Ravage again over two bends! Who's faster, Usain Bolt or Mo Farah! Lol

the fastest greyhound ever Yellow Printer.


Hall of Fame
Yellow Printer
Many experienced racegoers consider Yellow Printer the fastest dog ever to race and he won the Irish Derby in 1968 which is sufficient to give him immortality but, like Ataxy, Quare Times and Tanist, he was almost too fast for most greyhound tracks with their sharp turns.

A fawn dog whelped in march 1966, he obtained his tremendous speed from his grand sire, Hi There, and his great grandsire through his grand dam, Sally's Gossip, whose sire was the great Endless Gossip.

Owned by Sir Robert Adeane and Pauline Wallis, the dog hit the headlines when making an early exit from the 1968 English Derby yet bouncing back incredibly well to win the Irish Derby at Shelbourne Park in 29.11sec. The time had never been bettered before for this event and was not equalled or beaten until Lively Band six years later. Yellow Printer won the final when beating Russian Gun, an equally fine greyhound, who had won the event the previous year.

It was in a heat for the Derby that Yellow Printer was to become the first greyhound to break 29sec for 525yds at Shelbourne Park, when he won by nine lengths and clocked 28.83sec which was unbeaten until Tantallons Gift clocked 28.73sec on 24 July 1976. Previously, in the Easter Cup run at the same track in April, Yellow Printer had reached the final won by ltsamint and gave some indication of his Derby potential.

His fantastic run when winning his Derby heat made him the biggest favourite to win the event for years. Once again in the final of a big event he came up against the great bitch ltsamint, owned by Leslie McNair. The others in the final were Russian Gun, Clinker Flash, Drumna Chestnut and Ballybeg Flash.

With such outstanding greyhounds in the final, a huge crowd gathered to witness the race. First from the traps were Ballybeg Flash and Russian Gun, both of whom occupied the outside traps and moved slightly wider at the first turn. It was then that Yellow Printer, from trap four, moved inside and into the lead. He yielded not an inch until he had crossed the line one and a half lengths in front of Russian Gun, who stayed with him the whole way round and only conceded his crown to a younger dog after a tremendous effort. It was Yellow Printer's finest hour.

Early in 1969 Yellow Printer again showed his amazing speed when winning the Sir Billy Butlin Stakes at White City when he clocked 28.38sec, a time which was beaten only by himself. He again showed his liking for the track when winning the Wood Lane Stakes in 28.91sec after being badly hampered at the first bend.

He also won the Summer Cup at Wembley in 29.20sec. In the Pall Mall at Harringay he won his heat in 28.71sec to set a new track record, which he lowered to 28.60sec when winning his semi in which he defeated the ultimate winner of the event, Localmotive.

He was then flown to Shannon to represent England in the International at Limerick on 30 November but was beaten four lengths by Flaming King in 29.24sec. He was elected Greyhound of the Year in 1969 and retired to stud to stand in Ireland at a fee of 75gns.

He was trained during much of his career by John Bassett at Clapton, who said of him: "Placid types are best. They take nothing out of themselves and Yellow Printer was the perfect example. He was quiet, placid, nothing ever disturbed him. He was the perfect gentleman at all times – an aristocrat of the canine world." No words summed up this great champion better.

After only a short period at stud in Ireland Yellow Printer joined his owner Pauline O'Donnell (nee Wallis) in America where he became a very influential sire indeed. It was reported that he was the first greyhound in American history to command a stud fee of $500. Mrs O'Donnell and her husband Barney won the Seabrook Derby with one of his daughters, O’Donnells Elite, while Aptly won the Flagler Classic by nine lengths in 1974.

Printer Oily was another Yellow Printer bitch to win considerable prize money in major stakes but the dog Sandy Printer (Yellow Printer-Sandy Sailor) was his best son in the States and was elected America’s leading sire in 1980. That in itself was reward enough but, before he left for foreign parts, Yellow Printer had also given us the blazingly fast, but unlucky, Super Rory, who beat his sire’s track record over 525yds at White City with a time of 28.26sec in 1972.

He was dubbed, in turn, ‘the world's fastest greyhound’, before breaking a hock at a very tender age.

Yellow Printer spent his later years as a pet in the O'Donnell household where he reportedly lived a life of luxury until he died peacefully in his twelfth year.

Breeding History
YELLOW PRINTER

March 1966 fawn dog

Printer's Prince   
Hi There

Slaney Record
Dublin Red
Sally's Gossip     Endless Gossip
Castle Yard
Yellow Streak     Odd Venture     Glittering Look
Blarney Groves
Shane's Judy     The Grand Fire
Racing Bay

I remember Yellow Printer very well and although trained by Bassett at Clapton he hardly ever ran at that track as it was far from suitable for him. He was indeed a great dog but I would nominate the 1958 Derby winner Pigalle Wonder as the best I ever saw.

Pigalle Wonder



County Kilkenny-bred Pigalle Wonder (by Champion Prince out of Prairie Peg) was whelped in March 1956. In conformation he was a near perfect specimen of the breed, and if he hadn’t been a racing dog he would have been outstanding in the show ring. Named Prairie Champion by his breeder Tom Murphy, he put up a brilliant performance in the McCalmont Cup at Kilkenny, followed by a blistering trial at Harold’s Cross. He was then bought by Mr Al Burnett, who owned the Pigalle Club in London, and his name was changed to Pigalle Wonder.

Pigalle Wonder was blessed with blinding speed from the traps and the courage of a lion. Immensely adaptable, he set track records at seven different tracks. Trained for the 1958 Derby by Jim Syder Jnr. at Wembley, Pigalle Wonder clocked 28.44 seconds in his semi-final, a record that stood for ten years. He won the final by three lengths, with Northern Lad second. A neck behind in third was Mile Bush Pride, who in 1959 was to win the English, Scottish and Welsh Derbys. In the 525 yard Pall Mall at Harringay, Pigalle Wonder again set a record time of 29.03 seconds which also lasted for ten years. His record clocking of 28.78 seconds over Wembley’s 525 yard course stood for almost twenty years, unbeaten until the distance was changed to metres.

A wonderful dog both to look at and to watch in action, Pigalle Wonder passed on his attributes to his offspring at stud. Sold for the then huge sum of £3500, he stood in County Wicklow and became renowned as a sire of bitches. One example is his daughter Martin’s Pigalle, granddam of 1978 English Derby winner Lacca Champion. Among the many good male dogs he sired were Irish Derby winners Wonder Valley and Russian Gun.

Shakey Jakey

Hackney 31.07 secs over 523m

Argument discussion over

Totally agree Sunderland, Yellow Printer the fastest over 4-bends.
But the fastest, thus over 2-bends was Gin N Jass for me

https://youtu.be/qaTg2r_WWtU

Ballymac big mike 

Butt 3 bends could be entering calculations fkin aero

Just hope he goes up straight, clears and cuts corner. Surely cant hold on against final field

Dont think so Woodie ,But fck me the dog has some gears for 3 bends ,Tbh the fastest I ever Did see was PF  over the 4 bends ,But I think Balliniska Band would have given him a go

Is this bollox still rolling?? Some clueless facks still about so

LOLOLOLOL think PF i bit lashed up after jet's draw

the roar that went up in SPK when he went into a qualifying position and then the draw was fantastic

Hope you got on at the 66/1

Butt leads, Roddick beats 1 and 2 to the bend, race over, he ran away from Jet last night to the pick up

How does Roddick lead Rocky unless he makes an absolute tit of the start?

He can do as he likes to the pick up but he wasn't running away from Jet up the straight to the line anyway

agree. jet was actually closing on roddick towards the line. roddick was further ahead of jet off the 2nd bend than he was at the line and jet has had to go very wide the whole way around.

I have backed Jet and Rod, after watching last nights race about a Million times, imo Jet has got to be in front of Rod off the second bend to beat him

He probably does for sure and the draw has given him every chance to be

It has mate, its intriguing, IF, biggest word in gambling

Taking my mind off the game later as well

Haha good luck for the game

Always remember the year Tipoki won going into Victoria Station around 9:30am and hearing an unmerciful racket only to soon see the place was full of Millwall fans on the sauce before their play off final

Cheers mate, be lucky

millwall fans are summed up by the fact they are the only set of supporters i have ever seen fight each other (sorry deptford). my brother is there today and im chelsea, we had our own millwall/chelsea wars as kids

I know Addy, drives me mad, saw it in Budapest, that was madness, and then Wembley v Wigan, crackers

i never ever stop telling him what a bunch of degenerates they are fighting each other

would have been perfectly acceptable if certain factions of the charlton support were in the ground......think they would have been widely applauded by everyone in the gaming industry

Clears throat, thought this was a greyhound forum Addy?

JET plot of the Century and can come away better ,Roddick ran very well ,in a match would favour Roddick ,but Draws win races

Would be very happy with a Jet victory but going to come away as he always does, slow to get going imo. Behind Roddick in semis and likely again. Jet got better dogs than Shaneboy Freddie to pass here

Watching Semis Again how well has rocky ran

Much improved since beaten by Cloran Paddy in quarters. Roddick turn behind Rocky before asserting with Butt probably ruining his and Peregrine's chances. Jet too late and personally think gap in betting between Jet and Roddick far too big

Dogs I've seen in the flesh.

Sprinter. Ballyard Curtis. G DeMulders brindle wide running beast awesome.

Middle distance. Labana  Matthew G DeMulders brilliant White and fawn 4 bend dog had authority about him best I've seen.

Stayer. Sail on Valerie awesome black 6 bend bitch. Saw her beat Crohane Lucy and Trans Mercedes in 3 dog match brilliant animal.

I remember these dogs very well, Diesel. Wouldn't say Curtis one of sprinting's all-time greats but smart nevertheless. Also Labana Matthew but DeMulder had one even better about the same time, Derby finalist Galtymore Lad

Seem to remember Sail On Valerie running in a controversial Dorando Marathon, where Ernie Gaskin senior received all kinds of unfair verbal abuse after the race. Great bitch, crack out and it would take a monumental effort to beat her then

Thanks for the memories

Woodman wasn't Galtymore a white and fawn dog! forgot to mention my favourite marathon bitch. Miltons Sophie who ran at Hove. Black and white bitch ran out of 6 would get tailed off and pick any greyhound up over 900 or more she was awesome. Drove from Wiltshire to Henlow to back her at 11/10 in a marathon and beat a dog called Oxo by a country mile. 11/10 each of two. Golden days. Geoff DeMulder will always be my favourite trainer lovely guy who you could go up and talk to and he would chat for ages about greyhounds. Was great at gurning as well!

Geoff had some amazing the Dogs ,the fearless dogs were Class ... Desert Pilot another Machine

I liked Geoff and he even offered me a job in his kennels. Singing his praises on here once but they poured called water on it, saying he had a screw loose. Some people, I ask you. He was simply a great character and yes there were many fantastic Fearless dogs, not least Derby finalist Action

did u ever go to whitecity woodie

Before my time, Case. When I was working in London, Wembley still had a track though. There was a White City in Manchester too but I only saw it derelict. Outlet for superstores now

  Wembley was a Cracking Track ..

Go round the north circular towards Wembley now days you'd think you
was in Saudi Arabia.

All good for this once great country obviously

It's impossible & disrespectful to compare who the fastest greyhound is/was imo.

So many changes etc to track there never on the same playing field so to speak.


More of a question is...

Do we think Greyhounds have got quicker??

& If so where's the proof?

Times change Ron, no disputing that. We can only really relate to how far back we can remember

Records are made to be broken, not just in dog circles. Who remembers the 4 minute mile milestone and modernly Usain Bolt fastest man to ever live on the planet

Case, I do remember Harringey dogs on World Of Sport with Dickie Davis when I was a kid!

faster running surfaces are a huge factor in quicker times being recorded, different traps, timing mechanisms etc, also possibly better training methods/diets these days??

like a lot of sports its v difficult to compare eras but interesting topic for discussion all the same

Casemoney Geoff had A quite good bitch back in the day (Sarah's bunny)

Other changes to take into consideration when considering times are the removal of grass tracks and inside hares.

More science involved in sports nowadays, leading to faster almost superhuman achievements. They don't play with a casey anymore, for instance. Sure with greyhounds too, things have changed like diet, weights, training habits etc

Kereight King - when he was juiced up.  Who trained him again?  Anyone?

loyal honcho
pat curtin

Kereight King was an aeroplane even before Pat bought into the dog, when Aidan Denton was doing him he clocked 28:16 (twice) and 27:82 around Shelbourne, as far as I am aware he never tested positive then

Yep - I suppose when they do get caught cheating - as he was when he brought the dog to Wimbledon - it was the first time it had ever happened.    I hope the Wimbers stewards are vigilant come Saturday - eh pf?!

The fastest greyhound time recorded over a race distance of 515 metres or 563 yards is 28.88 secs by the Australian "wonder dog" Brett Lee trained by Darren Mcdonald from Peacedale (Victoria) in the final of the Adelaide Cup, a Group 1 race held at Angle Park (January 25, 2001), South Australia, (track circumference 457 metres) this represents an average racing speed around the track of 39.87 miles per hour!

Alternatively, the fastest time achieved over a race distance of 480 metres or 525 yards was recently recorded (September 8, 2007) in the U.K. at Monmore Green near Wolverhampton in the midlands (track circumference 419 metres) and is 27.81 secs by Blonde Dino trained by John Mullins (Unattached). This represents an average speed around a track of 38.60 mph!

However, bursts of top greyhound acceleration speeds along the straights close to 45 miles per hour / 72 km/h have also reportedly been achieved.

dog done a qualifying trial in cork a week ago 28.06 for 525   in a qualifyiing trial..he must have a chance of being the fastest ever with normal improvement!!

I bet Dino to win the Derby that year Irish

cork times are absolutely flying at the minute......becoming about as reliable as tralee used to be .....

now now addy , you are going a bit too far there.
I bought a dog from a fellah there once in the eighties, at trackside after it ran and got beat,  I said "how much" , he put up three fingers so I stuffed ten carpets into his other hand , he had a quick look and started laughing ...."three grand" he said.

ten carpets is three grand......

£30 quid a carpet in those days mate ! inflation ?

.... unless of course you were a car salesman winja

bottle 200......carpet 300......brown loaf 400....monkey 500.....tom nix 600.....nevis 700.......garden gate 800....bag of sand 1000......

When did they convert a carpet from 3 to 300?  For example a "double carpet" was always 33/1.

300 for car dealers is right, irishone. I would have expected us to talk in bookmaker terms.

aint been back to stepney for a while so not really up to date on the lingo .....ENNIT ? 

carpet is three when reporting prices and double carpet as you quite rightly say is 33 but when you are talking about betting or buying its 300 I mean who bets £3.....

I mean who bets £3

woody (at a push)

Quickest I have seen out the lids was a dog called Top Jock.

Remember at the Reading masters he was taking lengths out of some of the fastest breakers in greyhounds. Think he finished 2nd to the track champ Marshalls June in the Cat 1 event.

wonders

sparrow when you regularly bet at the track at a higher standard you turn 5 £20 notes into a £100 note so 3 x £100 note is where a carpet is converted into £300......

winja, maybe I'm just living in the past a bit with this slang, but with a father who was a bookmakers clerk from the 1930s to the 1960s it will always be that way for me I suppose.

to be fair sparrow £3 in those timeframes was a reasonable bet at the later stages and a massive bet in the earlier......well for working class people at the stadiums......I have been using those terms since the late seventies a few years after i began going dog racing....

I think the slang referred more to prices than actual currency as a £3 bet wasn't really much even in the 30s to most bookmakers.
neves,rouf, and carp half for 7/2 were all price related and not really used for money terms. In the 60s I can recall seeing £1000 bets laid at Charlton of all tracks.

that is interesting sparrow as the average weekly wage for skilled men in the 30's was £5.....which remained fairly static until after the war when it was £10 a week with it rising to £15 in the 50's before climbing to £25 in the 60's......50% of the weekly wage in the 30's in my mind was some risk considering there was only the races to gauge your opinion......I would have thought the bets were primarily in coins........what was an average turn over for a card in those days if you dont mind me asking....

I wouldn't really know that myself winja. Maybe I should have asked my dad but apart from the ordinary punters there was some real big hitters around back then. Very little for those guys off course so the money would always be on at the tracks. My regular track was Clapton which had an extremely strong market. My father clerked at White City in the 50s for John White senior the father of the present bookmaker and that market goes without saying.

how did this thread go from the fastest greyhound of all time to to the average industrial wage in the 1930s?

gang anti social behaviour

to be fair kavvie the original thread has probably been answered with the conclusion being different dogs running in different eras are nearly impossible to compare as there are no constants to use as the form of measure......also the world record has been identified and there was no real answer as to distance or when the speed was produced.....the branch out to other areas has probably given it a second lease of life.....

"there are no constants to use as a form of measure"

Well done Winja , its a real pity that it takes 80 odd posts for the obvious to be stated so succinctly.