The 1971 Greyhound Derby took place during June with the final being held on 26 June 1971 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 was Dolores Rocket and the winning owner received £10,000. Dolores Rocket was bred and reared by his owner Bert White.

Competition Report

With the

National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom. History The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) was formed in 1928 and this body would be responsible for regulation, licensing and the r ...

allowing trainers to seed+ their greyhounds wide for the first time it was generally agreed that there would be less crowding in races. Little County and Moordyke Spot had both retired but defending champion John Silver was entered for the competition. Clohast Rebel trained by

Geoff De Mulder Geoffrey De Mulder (1930 – 11 December 2009) was an English greyhound trainer. He was a two times champion trainer of Great Britain and was regarded as the leading trainer during the 1970s and 1980s. Early life He was born in Yorkshire and ...

set a time of 28.28sec in a solo trial, two spots faster than the track record held by Yellow Printer.

Laurels ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, Glossary of botanical terms#glabrous, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as ...

champion Sole Aim, Puppy Derby champion Crefogue Flash and Irish entry Postal Vote topped the ante-post lists alongside Clohast Rebel. The qualifying round was held on a firm track and many greyhounds posted fast times including Postal Vote who recorded the best time of 28.33, a heat that ended with the elimination of John Silver. The fastest first round winner was Brighton's Hurst Wickham trained by Fred Lugg in a time of 28.56; Sole Aim, Crefogue Flash and Dolores Rocket also claimed heats. Dolores Rocket and 'Leap and Run' both won second round heats and remained unbeaten whilst Clohast Rebel bounced back to winning ways in the fastest time of 28.39. Postal Vote and

Gold Collar The Gold Collar is a greyhound racing competition held annually. It was inaugurated in 1933 at Catford Stadium. Following the closure of Catford in 2003 the competition switched to Belle Vue Stadium but only lasted until 2009 when it was discont ...

champ Down Your Way both failed to make it to the semi-finals. The semi-finals resulted in two 10-1 shot winners, the first was Leap and Run who had now made the final unbeaten. Clohast Rebel and Crefogue Flash failed to progress. The second semi went to Irish hope Ivy Hall Flash; Sole Aim handled by Nora Gleeson for the duration of the event went out. The final saw Supreme Fun first away from the traps but Leap and Run soon took the lead and maintained an advantage from Supreme Fun and Moordyk Champion. However it was Dolores Rocket who came from last place to first becoming the first bitch to win the Derby since 1949. Dolores Rocket's dam was Come on Dolores owned by Ernie Gaskin Sr. +Seeding (The process of classifying a greyhound to run in the inside traps or outside traps, known by the terms railer or wide runner.)

Final result

At White City (over 525 yards):

Distances

¾, ½, ¾, 2¼, 1½ (lengths)
The distances between the greyhounds are in finishing order and shown in lengths. One length is equal to 0.08 of one second.

Quarter finals

Semi finals

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 ...