The 1983 Daily Mirror Greyhound Derby took place during May and June with the final being held on 25 June 1983 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 I'm Slippy and the winning owner John Quinn received £25,000. The competition was sponsored by the

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

Final result

At White City (over 500 metres):

Distances

head, neck, ½, ¾, 2¾ (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 Daily Mirror took over sponsorship of the event from Spillers; they had already sponsored the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...

and Puppy Oaks. There were 213 entries and topping the ante-post lists were Game Ball trained by Irishman Sean Bourke and Scurry Gold Cup champion Yankee Express. Heavy rain produced slow times on the opening night with Yankee Express recording 30.37. With the qualifying round being held over four nights the going improved dramatically and Game Ball won in 29.43. Game Ball was then defeated by Whisper Wishes in round one but both qualified. The second round saw the field down to 48 and Game Ball produced the fastest heat win. Long Spell and Yankee Express both won but Whisper Wishes made it no further after being badly bumped. The quarter-finals provided two very strong heats, Game Ball and Yankee Express were drawn together in heat two and the final heat contained Debbycot Lad, I'm Slippy and Long Spell. Amazing Man won heat one before Yankee Express missed the break and found trouble in heat two and would take no further part in the Derby. Game Ball only finished second behind 50-1 shot Lisnamuck. The third heat went to On Spec and the final heat was claimed by I'm Slippy with Long Spell going out after encountering crowding. Game Ball moved into the final after clinching his semifinal from Debbycott Lad and On Spec. The 9-4 joint favourites Amazing Man and I'm Slippy went neck and neck in the second semi before Amazing Man claimed the race. Game Ball lined up for the final as the evens money favourite and made a moderate start unlike I'm Slippy who was very fast away. There was crowding at the first bend but Debbycott Lad and On Spec showed enough pace to sit behind the leader, as they approached the third bend the race was wide open. Five of the six greyhounds passed the line together with I'm Slippy just holding on in a photo-finish.

Quarter-finals

Semifinals

Supporting Races

Five track records fell on the Derby final night including that of the Derby distance when Hay Maker Mack won the

English Greyhound Derby Invitation The English Greyhound Derby Invitation formerly the Derby Consolation Stakes was a long standing competition for greyhounds eliminated during the later stages of the English Greyhound Derby. It was originally for the six greyhounds eliminated a ...

and became the first ever dog to break the 29-second barrier, posting 28.95 sec. Hay Maker Mack had won a Derby heat before being knocked out and his racing career ended soon afterwards, when he sustained a broken hock during the

Essex Vase The Essex Vase is a greyhound racing competition held annually at Romford Greyhound Stadium. It was inaugurated in 1939 and ran until 1949. It was decided to bring the race back in 1959. The 2017 version of the event was delayed and held in March ...

at Romford. The other four track records were; Pagan Pansy 29.88 (500 metres hurdles), Sir Winston 30.38 (500 metres chase), Ceili Lass 40.75 (680 metres) and Minnis Matador 43.82 (730 metres).

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