The 1976 Spillers Greyhound Derby took place during June with the final being held on 26 June 1976 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 ...
.
The winner was Mutts Silver and the winning owners, a syndicate headed by Ray Lancaster received £15,000. The competition was sponsored by the
Spillers
Spillers Ltd was a British company that owned flour milling operations, operated bakeries and also sold pet food and equine feeds.
History
The business originated in 1829 from the establishment of a flour mill in Bridgwater, Somerset, by Joel Sp ...
.
Final result
At White City (over 500 metres):
Distances
2¼, 3½, head, 2, ¾ (lengths)
The distances between the greyhounds are in finishing order and shown in lengths. One length is equal to 0.08 of one second.
Competition Report
The previous system of having two non-betting qualifying rounds was scrapped and replaced by just one, which required the field to be whittled down to 48 runners by the time of the actual second round. Ireland's leading trainer Ger McKenna had sent a team over that included ante-post favourite Ballybeg Prim and Shamrock Point who had been unfortunate the year before. The
Laurels
''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cookin ...
beaten favourite Sean Na Gaisce and Xmas Holiday were also well represented in the ante-post lists.
In the qualifying round on 5 June Ballybeg Prim equalled the track record (29.23 set by Myrtown).
During the second round Ballybeg Prim beat Xmas Holiday in 29.47 with Flip Your Top and Westmead Champ setting the fastest times with 29.28 and 29.34 respectively. Shamrock Point provided a record-breaking quarter-final success in 29.18sec and then Ballybeg Prim (the deposed track record holder) beat Mutts Silver. Flip Your Top defeated Xmas Holiday before Westmead Myra won the final heat but Sean Na Gaisce went out after trouble.
[
Mutts Silver (owned by Sporting Life) won a hard semi-final from Jackies Jet and Ballybeg Prim with Flip Your Top and Shamrock Point both failing to make the final. The second semi resulted in Westmead Champ beating Xmas Holiday and Westmead Myra.][
In the final Mutts Silver showed a burst of early speed to slip round the bend in front. Ballybeg Prim made some inroads into the leader's advantage, but Mutts Silver could not be caught. Mutts Silver had been bought by a syndicate headed by Ray Lancaster, editor of the Sporting Life who had tasked the greyhound editor Archie Newhouse to find a dog for the Derby and British breeding was well represented in the final by Nick and Natalie Savva who had bred Westmead Myra and Westmead Champ.][
]
See also
* 1976 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
References
{{English Greyhound Derby
Greyhound Derby
English Greyhound Derby
The English Greyhound Derby is the most prestigious race on the British greyhound racing calendar, with a history stretching back to 1927.
It was first held at White City Stadium, but moved to Wimbledon Stadium in 1985, and then Towcester Gre ...
English Greyhound Derby
The English Greyhound Derby is the most prestigious race on the British greyhound racing calendar, with a history stretching back to 1927.
It was first held at White City Stadium, but moved to Wimbledon Stadium in 1985, and then Towcester Gre ...
English Greyhound Derby