1939 GREYHOUND DERBY

This race was run at the White City.

Highland Rum, a May 1937 red and fawn dog which was bred at Dungarvan in County Waterford, was sent to England to be trained by P. Fortune of Wimbledon. He won the Derby in runaway style, beating Carmel Ash in a time of 29.35, earning a purse of £1250.

Carmel Ash was bred in Scotland and trained at Harringay by E. Wright. The only finalist to remain unbeaten leading up to the final, but was then beaten by Highland Rum.

THE FINAL

With the withdrawl of Black Peter, who sustained an injury just before the final, the betting between the top 3 became very tight. Carmel Ash and Highland Rum were made 2/1 joint favourites with Mister Mutt the outsider at a shade above 12/1 and, in the event, the punters were correct but only just. As the boxes rose it was Mister Mutt who gained the early lead, from Highland and Carmel Ash. He maintained a 3 length lead as they approached the first, but runners bunched up behind him. As they went round the first there was severe bunching on the inside, giving Highland Rum a trouble free run on the wide outside. He took full advantage of this to take a five length lead down the back straight, with Carmel and Demotic Mack giving chase. While Carmel Ash did manage to run on strongly, he was still  two and a half lengths behind at the line, with Demotic a full 12 lengths further back in third.

Rare 1939 programme, minimal markings but punched holes		Extremely rare gold embossed menu
60 credits		30 credits

The racecard scan is a graded sweepstake over 500yds hurdles run on the 21st July 1939 featuring three outstanding hurdlers of the pre war era. Juvenile Classic (winner of the Grand National 1938,1940). Printer (winner of the Wimbledon gold cup 1939). Valiant Bob (winner of the Grand National 1939). The race was won by Printer by a distance of  2 Lengths in  29.33  on good going. Valiant Bob was withdrawn off colour. However, the three dogs met less than two weeks later, in an open over the same trip which included, Lemon Produce who won the Christmas Vase the previous year & Speedway Rover from Wembley. The result this time was: Printer, Valiant Bob, Juvenile Classic by a distance of  4 ½ Lengths in  29.00  on good going which at the time was a track record. My thanks to Tony Nash for providing the racecard scan and information.

IRISH GREYHOUND DERBY (Limerick)

SCOTTISH GREYHOUND DERBY (Carntyne)

Email me at johnslusar at fsmail.net

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