The 1978 Spillers Greyhound Derby took place during May, June and July with the final being held on 1 July 1978 at White City Stadium. The winner was Lacca Champion and the winning owners Paul Howell, Sandra Howell and David Hill received a record £20,000. 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 ...

Competition Report

The Derby attracted a significant number of runners from Ireland with 21 of the 163 hopefuls making the journey. The first round was held at different tracks which proved unpopular.

Scurry Gold Cup The Scurry Gold Cup is an original classic greyhound competition currently run at Perry Barr Stadium. It was run at Clapton Stadium from 1928 until its closure in 1973. The event moved to Slough Stadium in 1974 which consequently closed in 198 ...

champion Jet Control ran in a heat the night after winning the Laurels. Ante-post favourite Witchs Champion went out in round two and Heres Tat ran well below expectation but the Ger McKenna trained greyhound retained the overall favouritism. The Pat and

Linda Mullins Linda Mullins is a retired English greyhound trainer. She is a five times champion trainer of Great Britain and was regarded as the leading trainer during the 1990s. Personal life Linda (née Chapelle) trained greyhounds at Eastbach kennels in ...

pair of Lacca Champion and Paradise Spectre both progressed as did Balliniska Band. The erratic Glen Rock who had recorded the fastest trial of the year at the track (29.47) also progressed but failed at the quarter-final stage. The third round ended the challenge of defending champion Balliniska Band following two dislocated toes. The fastest heat winner was Geoff De Mulder's Dale Lad in a time of 29.30. The quarter-finals resulted in another win for Lacca Champion who remained unbeaten and Irish sprinter Glenroe Hiker led all the way in his heat but Paradise Spectre went out. The long format of the competition now meant that the semifinals would be the fifth run for the greyhounds. The first semi resulted in a fifth win for Lacca Champion after he matched the early pace of Glenroe Hiker out of the traps; All Wit took third place. In the second semi Mulcair Rocket the 6-4f trained by Emil Kovac missed the break leaving Superior Model winning from Backdeed Man and Great Ali. Six contenders lined up for the final and Lacca Champion was sent off 6-4 favourite. Out of the traps he was led by Glenroe Hiker, but Lacca Champion maintained his challenge and went on to win from Backdeed Man in 29.42sec, with the early leader fading into fifth. Lacca Champion had gone through the Derby unbeaten with the added anomaly of winning his first round heat at

Harringay Stadium Harringay Stadium was a major greyhound racing and motorcycle speedway venue in Harringay, north London. It was built and opened in 1927 and closed in 1987. Construction Harringay Stadium was the third greyhound racing stadium to open in Br ...

Final result

At White City (over 500 metres):

Distances

1¾, 2½, head, 1½, 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.

Quarter-finals

Semifinals

References

{{English Greyhound Derby Greyhound Derby English Greyhound Derby