The English Greyhound Derby is the most prestigious race on the British

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

calendar, with a history stretching back to 1927. It was first held 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 car ...

, but moved to

Wimbledon Stadium Wimbledon Stadium, also known as Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, was a greyhound racing track located in Wimbledon in southwest London, England. It also hosted stock car and other small circuit motor racing events, and until 2005 hosted motorc ...

in 1985, and then

Towcester Greyhound Stadium Towcester Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track located within Towcester Racecourse at Towcester in Northamptonshire, England. It has been the home of the English Greyhound Derby since 2021, having previously hosted the event from 2017 ...

in 2017, Nottingham in 2019 and back to Towcester in 2021. Only four greyhounds have won the event twice, Mick the Miller,

Patricias Hope Patricias Hope was a famous racing greyhound from the 1970s. He is just one of four greyhounds along with Mick the Miller, Rapid Ranger and Westmead Hawk to win the English Greyhound Derby twice. 1972 Patricias Hope won the 1972 English Greyh ...

, Rapid Ranger and

Westmead Hawk Westmead Hawk (May 2003 – 26 May 2014) was a black male Greyhound. He was a two-time winner of the English Greyhound Derby in 2005 and 2006, and has drawn comparisons with Mick the Miller and horse Red Rum. Westmead Hawk was the father to ...

. Trainer

Charlie Lister Charles 'Charlie' Richard Lister OBE (born 1940) is a former English greyhound trainer. He is a four times winner of the Greyhound Trainer of the Year and is regarded as one of the leading trainers of all time. He also holds the record for Englis ...

OBE has won the event a record seven times.

History

Rapid Ranger, twice winner of the Derby 2000–2001 Dorotas Wildcat, 2018 champion The first venue of the English Greyhound Derby was at

, which had been built for the

1908 London Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

. Greyhound racing had only recently started to take place there, with the first greyhound race only taking place a couple of weeks prior to the first Derby being run. Entry Badge won the first race to be held, winning a £1000 prize for the dog's trainer, Joe Harmon. Two years later, racing greyhound Mick the Miller became the first dog to win multiple Derbys. The 1940 final was held 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 ...

, due to the outbreak of war. In 1973, pet food manufacturer

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 ...

sponsored the race for the first time, the same year that

became the second dog to win the Derby on more than one occasion, one of only two dogs to achieve that at White City Stadium. Spillers continued to sponsor the race, increasing the prize money to £35,000 by 1980. 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 ...

'' took over sponsorship of the race in 1983; the following year the race was held at White City for the last time before that stadium closed, with Whisper Wishes becoming the final dog to win the Derby at its original location. The Derby was moved to

in 1985, and remained there until 2016. The ''Daily Mirror'' continued to be the race's sole sponsor until 1990, when the '' Sporting Life'' became co-sponsor. In 1998,

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookma ...

William Hill became the sole sponsor; in 2006, bookmaker Blue Square took over. William Hill later renewed its involvement with greyhounds and the Wimbledon Stadium with a partnership that lasted until 2016. The 2016 Derby was the last to be held at Wimbledon following the stadium's closure on 25 March 2017 and the redevelopment of the site for housing by the owner

Galliard Homes Galliard Homes is a British residential property developer based in Loughton. Operating across London and the Home Counties, Galliard Homes is the capital's largest privately owned residential property developer. History Galliard Homes was found ...

. This resulted in the Derby being located outside London for the first time as Wimbledon was the last greyhound stadium in the capital.

holds the record as the most successful trainer at the Derby, having won it on seven occasions. He is hailed as the greatest greyhound trainer of all time, and referred to as the 'Derby King'. On 30 January 2017, it was announced that the event would relocate to the new greyhound stadium at

Towcester Racecourse Towcester Racecourse is a greyhound racing track and former horse racing venue at Towcester (pronounced "''Toh-ster''") in Northamptonshire, England. It has staged the English Greyhound Derby in 2018, 2021 and has won the contract for the next 5 ...

, for a minimum period of five years but it was switched to

Nottingham Greyhound Stadium Nottingham Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track and stadium on the outskirts of Nottingham, England. Races at the course are held on Monday, Friday and Saturday evenings as well as an additional matinée meeting every Tuesday. The ci ...

in 2019 following the closure of Towcester Racecourse in 2018. The 2020 event was rescheduled following a postponement due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Following the reopening of Towcester Greyhound Stadium, the English Greyhound Derby returned to Towcester for 2021.

Past winners

Statistics

References

{{UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Years Recurring sporting events established in 1927 1927 establishments in England Sport in Nottingham Greyhound racing competitions in the United Kingdom Greyhound racing in London Sport in Northamptonshire