The 1948 Irish Greyhound Derby took place during August and September with the final being held at

Shelbourne Park Shelbourne Park is a greyhound racing stadium in the south Dublin inner city suburb of Ringsend. Greyhound Racing Opening The plans to open a greyhound track in Dublin were drawn up by Paddy O’Donoghue, Jerry Collins, Patsy McAlinden and Jim ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

on 4 September 1948. The winner Western Post won £1,000 which at the time was a record prize for an Irish race. He was trained by

Paddy Moclair Paddy Moclair (1 September 1907 – 9 May 1983) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played as a full-forward and as a full-back at senior level for the Mayo county team. After retiring from Gaelic football he was a leading greyhound trainer. Ga ...

(a former Irish Gaelic footballer) and owned by Frank Davis from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The runner-up Baytown Colonel was under two years old and went on to win the

Trafalgar Cup The Trafalgar Cup is a greyhound competition held at Monmore Green Stadium for puppies under the age of two. It is the oldest puppy competition in the racing calendar. It was contested at Wembley Stadium from 1929 until 1998, but when the Wembley ...

Final result

At Shelbourne, 4 September (over 525 yards):

Distances

4, 1 (lengths)

Competition Report

Offering a record £1,000 first prize the 1948 Derby attracted the

Scottish Greyhound Derby The Scottish Greyhound Derby was an original classic greyhound competition held at Shawfield Stadium. Held at Carntyne Stadium from 1928 to 1968, after the closure of Carntyne the race appeared at Shawfield from 1970 until 1985. In 1988 the Gre ...

champion Western Post. Paddy Moclair his original owner would train the greyhound for the duration of the competition for Londoner Frank Davis. Moclair had paid £240 for him at Limerick sales before Davis then bought the dog from Moclair and Anthony Watson for £2,000. The fawn and white dog wrote himself into the record books by becoming the first winner of the Scottish and Irish Derby. Despite the reputation of Western Post, the hot favourite throughout the event had been Harvest King owned and trained by Harry O’Neill. Harvest King from Arklow had impressed during the early rounds including a victory over Western Post and before the semi-finals began he had been sold to Harry O'Neill for £4,000. In the final Harvest King made a poor start and never showed leaving Western Post to overtake the early leader (a bitch called Canter Home) at the halfway mark. He went on to win easily from Baytown Colonel.

References

{{Irish Greyhound Derby Greyhound racing in the Republic of Ireland Irish Greyhound Derby Irish Greyhound Derby, 1948 Irish Greyhound Derby

Final result

Distances

Competition Report

See also

References