The 1972 Greyhound Derby took place during June with the final being held on 24 June 1972 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

Patricias Hope Patricias Hope was a famous racing greyhound from the 1970s. He is just one of four greyhounds along with Mick the Miller, Rapid Ranger and Westmead Hawk to win the English Greyhound Derby twice. 1972 Patricias Hope won the 1972 English Greyh ...

and the winning owners Brian Stanley, Gordon Marks and B Marks received £10,952.

Competition Report

Ante-post favourites were Favourite Rory and Juvenile champion Short Interview. Oaks heroine Decimal Queen and the previous year’s third placed greyhound Leap and Run were two other leading contenders. The first round consisted of nine heats and three fast winners were Super Rory (28.59), Suburban Gent (28.65) and Westmead County (28.76), both ante-post favourites went out. When round two got underway Super Rory aged (only 20 months) recorded 28.36 to win heat two by five lengths from Patricias Hope; Westmead County was eliminated in the same heat. Irish entry Proud Life, Bally Lander from

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

and Lucky Punter trained by Peter Hawkesley took the other heat wins. Proud Life won again to claim the first semi-final from Patricias Hope and Micks Pride; hot favourite First Case trained by Tom Johnston Jr could only finish fifth. In the second semi-final Super Rory became the fastest greyhound in the world by setting a time 28.26 sec when winning and bettering his father's (Yellow Printer) time. An anonymous offer of £12,000 was followed by a £14,000 by Freddie Warrell for Super Rory but both were turned down and he was sent to traps as the 4-9 favourite for the final. Super Rory failed to trap well after being unsettled by the Derby roar* but Patricias Hope did trap well and went on to record a comfortable victory. Note
Derby roar* (the noise made by the crowd when the electric hare is set in motion)

Final result

At White City (over 525 yards):

Distances

3¼, head, 1¼, 1, 3½ (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

+ World and track record

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 ...