1987 English Greyhound Derby

1987 English Greyhound Derby 30 June £30,000 (winner) Wimbledon Stadium 1986 1988 The 1987 Daily Mirror Greyhound Derby took place during May and June with the final being held on 30 June 1987 at Wimbledon Stadium.Hobbs Jonathan Greyhound Annual 2008, page 91 2007 Raceform 978-1-905153-53-4 The winner was Signal Spark and the winning owner Towfiq Al-Aali received £30,000. The competition was sponsored by the Daily Mirror.Genders Roy NGRC book of Greyhound Racing, page 88 1990 Pelham Books Ltd 0-7207-1804-X Final result At Wimbledon (over 480 metres):http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?r=61 1987 Greyhound Data PositionName of GreyhoundBreedingTrapSPTimeTrainer1stSignal Spark Echo Spark - Balbec Duchess 414-128.83Gary Baggs (Walthamstow)2ndTapwatcher The Stranger - Jims Lady511-10f28.84Bob Young (Hove)3rdRikasso Tiller Mathews World - Kilflynn Hiker 33-129.09Theo Mentzis (Milton Keynes)4thSlaneyside Speed Echo Spark - Prince of Rocks 67-129.12 Geoff De Mulder (Oxford)5thEnecee Echo Spark - Summer Nut 15-129.18 Geoff De Mulder (Oxford)6thStouke Whisper Whisper Wishes - Stouke Playgirl 212-129.46John Honeysett (Wembley) Distances Short head, 3, neck, ¾, 3½ (lengths) The distances between the greyhounds are in finishing order and shown in lengths. One length is equal to 0.08 of one second.Genders Roy NGRC book of Greyhound Racing (Timekeeper) p310 1990 Pelham Books Ltd 0-7207-1804-X Competition report In the opening heat of the qualifying round a greyhound called Tapwatcher recorded 28.65sec a time which propelled him up into being one of the favourites for the competition outright. He followed this up in round one by defeating Mollifrend Lucky. Local runner and leading contender Monroe Luck (Phil Rees), Pagan Chimes and Old Sloucher (Ger McKenna) all won well on heavy going in round two but Tapwatcher and Signal Spark were the only favourites to win during this round.Dack Barrie Greyhound Derby, the first 60 years, pages 192/193/194/195/196 1990 Ringpress Books 0-948955-36-8 In the quarter-finals Mollifrend Lucky broke his hock as he came out of the traps finishing badly lame, Pagan Chimes went on to win the heat from Hot Sauce Yankee. Tapwatcher defeated Signal Spark in heat two and Enecee from the DeMulder kennels won the third heat in 28.66. Serserry beat Stouke Whisper and Flashy Sir to finish off the round. Rikasso Tiller staked his claim in the semi-finals with victory from Enecee and the strong finishing Stouke Whisper. Pagan Chimes, Hot Sauce Yankee and Flashy Sir were eliminated. The second semi was won by Tapwatcher who comfortably beat a field which included Slaneyside Speed and Signal Spark. The final betting sent off Tapwatcher as the strong favourite but it was Enecee that started best with Tapwatcher and Signal Spark tucked in behind, the pair touched when overtaking Enecee allowing Signal Spark to take the lead. Tapwatcher began to pull the lead back and as they reached the finishing line the pair crossed line together in a photo finish. Wimbledon Racing Manager Bob Rowe stated that it was the closest Derby finish in history with the verdict going to Signal Spark. See also 1987 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year References Greyhound Derby Category:English Greyhound Derby