Ballyregan Bob (12 May 1983 to 3 April 1994) was a racing

greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

who, along with Mick the Miller and

Scurlogue Champ Scurlogue Champ is a famous racing greyhound from the 1980s. Along with Mick the Miller and Ballyregan Bob he is arguably one of the greatest three hounds that ever raced in Britain. Early life Scurlogue Champ was a black dog whelped in July 198 ...

, is one of the most revered racing hounds in British greyhound racing. Ballyregan Bob was a brindle dog and was whelped in May 1983. Trained by George Curtis he would become world famous for breaking the world record for consecutive race wins.

Racing career

In 1985 Ballyregan Bob won three major events, the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

at home track

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, the Test at

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 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 ...

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

. Whilst winning these events he remained unbeaten and was on his way to setting the world record. He also qualified for the final of the classic race the

St Leger The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a d ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

but was a non runner in the final. Wins and track records continued to come his way in 1986 until on 9 December he lined up for the Racing Post Challenge at

and duly broke the world record held by American greyhound Joe Dump by winning his 32nd consecutive race.

Retirement and death

After retirement Bob was put to stud and sired many litters. In 1990 he returned from the United States where he had undertaken stud duties and was sent to Germany where he stood with breeder Franz Joseph Gillett, before eventually returning to Britain. Ballyregan Bob has the unique distinction of being the only dog ever nominated as Guest of Honour at the commissioning of

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

warship HMS Pursuer - an accolade awarded because of the depiction of a greyhound in the ship's badge. After his death of old age in 1994, the greyhound was exhibited in the

Natural History Museum at Tring The Natural History Museum at Tring was the private museum of Lionel Walter, 2nd Baron Rothschild; today it is under the control of the Natural History Museum, London. It houses one of the finest collections of stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles ...

along with Mick the Miller.

World record

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom Individual dogs 1994 animal deaths Racing greyhounds 1983 animal births

Racing career

Retirement and death

World record

Pedigree

See also

References