1958 GREYHOUND DERBY

This race was run at the White City.

Pigalle Wonder, trained by the Wembley trainer Jim Syder Junior, won the 58 Derby, beating Northern Lad in a time of 28.65.

Early Rounds

At the outset of this competition it was widely believed that it would be dominated by Mile Bush Pride and Pigalle Wonder. However, as early as round one Pigalle was beaten and a new favourite in the Irish star Kilcashin Kern emerged. The Irish dog was trained by Tony Dennis, the youngest trainer in the competition, and won both first and second round heats, the first in 28.63, although towards the end of the second round he became lame but managed to hold on for victory. Meanwhile, both Pigalle Wonder and Mile Bush Pride won their second round heats, the latter in the faster time , winning in 28.70.

Semi Finals

The scene was set for two scintillating semi-finals. In the first it was the turn of Mile Bush Pride and although led up on the outside by Outside Left and Gentle Touch, he squeezed between them at the first and sprinted clear to win by 7 lengths in 28.57. Outside Left and Gentle Touch claimed the other 2 finals places. In the second semi-final the supporters of Pigalle Wonder showed some doubt, allowing him to go off at a shade of odds on 4/5. Despite this there was never a concern as Pigalle raced to a 13 length victory in a record breaking 28.44, with Northern Lad and Slimmer Down Pal claiming remore minor placings.

The Final

Despite the obvious qualities of Pigalle Wonder and Mile Bush Pride, with the former at 4/5 and the latter at 5/2 second favourite, the final was not seen as a two dog match. Clear support was for the wide berthed Outside Left (6/1) and more than one newspaper hack strongly tipped Gentle Touch. However, it was left to Northern Lad to hit the lids first from the 5 box, followed around by Gentle Touch and Pigalle Wonder. Remarkably Northern Lad took up a rails position at the first, a tactic which enabled him to build a clear lead, although Pigalle had moved ominously into second. It was not until the approach to the third bend that Pigalle caught and passed Northern Lad, running on too strongly to win by 2 3/4 lengths in 28.65. Mile Bush Pride had proved no match for Pigalle and was even denied the runners up berth by a fast diminishing neck.

50 credits

With very grateful thanks to Steve McClenn for this scan of the champion .

Email me at johnslusar@fsmail.net

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