The 1961 Greyhound Derby took place during June with the final being held on 24 June 1961 at

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car ...

. The winner Palms Printer received £2,000 and was trained by Paddy McEvoy and owned by Alf Heale.

Competition Report

The Racing Manager selected 36 greyhounds leaving 12 remaining places. They would be gained from three afternoon trial sessions and eight qualifying heats to determine the 12 final places. Qualifiers included Winter Bell and Clopook, the latter trained by 28 year old

Ernie Gaskin Ernie Gaskin Sr. (1933–2020) was an English greyhound trainer. He was three times winner of the Trainers Championship and won 12 classic races. Career In 1961 Ernie Gaskin's Clopook ran in the English Derby final just two months after ...

(much later known as Gaskin Sr.) Gaskin was a new trainer only being granted his licence two months before the Derby started. The ante-post favourites list was headed by Oregon Prince (8-1) and Spider Hill (10-1). Other leading contenders were litter brothers Clonalvy Pride and Clonalvy Romance; the latter had won the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

a month earlier. Defending champion Duleek Dandy was also entered for the event but had suffered a broken hock in late summer. First round casualties included both of the Clonalvy brothers, Duleek Dandy and two other strongly supported runners Careless Look and Prairie Flash. The bookmaker's only liability was Oregon Prince trained by Phil Rees Sr. who won heat two. One second round heat contained Oregon Prince and Clopook. In the semi-finals Palms Printer beat early leader Clopook to win in 28.69, third spot went to Spider Hill. The second semi went to Oregon Prince who won easily in 28.74 sec. Unusually the final did not feature a runner from

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

(the first time since 1947). Winter Bell lined up as a first finalist for Clare Orton, son of Sidney Orton. Four of the finalists had made the final without winning any of the rounds and only the two semi-final winners came into the final with winning form. It was Oregon Prince that led at the first but moved wide allowing Palms Printer room to take a decisive lead. Oregon Prince battled well right up until the home straight when Palms Printers superior stamina told. Clopook was unfortunately knocked over.

Final result

At White City (over 525 yards):

Distances

1¼, 1¼, short head, 1½, Dis (lengths)
The distances between the greyhounds are in finishing order and shown in lengths. From 1950 one length was equal to 0.08 of one second.

References

{{English Greyhound Derby Greyhound Derby

English Greyhound Derby The English Greyhound Derby is the most prestigious race on the British Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing calendar, with a history stretching back to 1927. It was first held at White City Stadium, but moved to Wimbledon ...

English Greyhound Derby

Competition Report

Final result

Distances

See also

References