The 1997 Irish Greyhound Derby took place during August, September and October with the final being held at
Shelbourne Park
Shelbourne Park is a greyhound racing stadium in the south Dublin inner city suburb of Ringsend.
Greyhound Racing
Opening
The plans to open a greyhound track in Dublin were drawn up by Paddy O’Donoghue, Jerry Collins, Patsy McAlinden and Jim ...
in
Dublin on 4 October 1997.
The winner
Toms The Best
Toms The Best was a leading racing greyhound during the 1990s. He is the only greyhound to have won both the English Greyhound Derby and the Irish Greyhound Derby. He was also voted the 1998 UK Greyhound of the Year.
Whelping and rearing
He was ...
won £50,000 and was trained by
Nick Savva
Nicolas Savva known as Nick Savva is a greyhound trainer and breeder. He is a four times winner of the English Greyhound Derby and is regarded as Britain's most successful breeder, along with his late wife Natalie Savva (1935–2019) who also hel ...
, owned by Eddie Shotton and bred by Ian Greaves. The race was sponsored by the
Ireland on Sunday.
Final result
At Shelbourne, 4 October (over 550 yards):
Distances
¾, 2, 3¼, head, ½ (lengths)
Competition Report
The English challenge for the newly sponsored
Ireland on Sunday Irish Greyhound Derby was very strong with the
1997 English Greyhound Derby
The 1997 Daily Mirror/Sporting Life Greyhound Derby took place during May & June with the final being held on 28 June 1997 at Wimbledon Stadium. The winner Some Picture received £50,000. The competition was sponsored by the Sporting Life and Da ...
and
1997 Scottish Greyhound Derby champion
Some Picture
Some Picture was a leading racing greyhound during the 1990s. He won both the English Greyhound Derby and the Scottish Greyhound Derby. He was also voted the 1997 UK Greyhound of the Year and unusually for an English trained greyhound was voted ...
leading the ante-post betting and looking to become the first greyhound in history to achieve the modern triple crown (Irish Derby instead of
Welsh Greyhound Derby). Toms the Best was also considered a leading contender for the event.
In the qualifying round Some Picture recorded a fast win in 30.24 and there were good wins for Forest Jet and Spiral Nikita. In the first round, Some Picture went even faster recording 30.12 despite running very wide. The 525 track record holder Cool Panther won in 30.27 and Vintage Prince recorded a fast 30.19.
[
Elderberry Chick set the best second round time with a 30.07 and ]1995 Irish Greyhound Derby
The 1995 Irish Greyhound Derby took place during August and September with the final being held at Shelbourne Park in Dublin on 23 September 1995.
The winner Batties Rocket won £50,000 and was trained by Matt O'Donnell, owned and bred by Alicia ...
winner Batties Rocket, Vintage Prince and Spiral Nikita all won but there was a shock defeat when Some Picture lost out to Borna Best. In the quarter-finals there was a heat that contained three of the leading contenders and all three qualified with Spiral Nikita beating Some Picture and Toms the Best. The other heats were won by Vintage Prince, Batties Rocket and Dynamic Boot.[
Both semi-finals were won in 30.05, in the first Spiral Nikita beat Right to Apply and Toms the Best and in the second heat Vintage Prince defeated Some Picture and Jokers Run. Vintage Prince was now the favourite for the event.][
The triple crown dream for Some Picture came to an end ][
]
See also
*1997 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
The 1997 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 71st year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Roll of honour
Summary
The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) released the annual returns, with totalisator turnover at £ ...
References
{{Irish Greyhound Derby
Greyhound Derby
Irish Greyhound Derby