1928 English Greyhound Derby


The 1928 Greyhound Derby Final took place on 28 July 1928 at White City Stadium. There was an increase in prize money on the previous year with the Greyhound Racing Association offering substantial sums of £1,500 and a gold cup for the winner, £500 to the runner-up and £200 to third place. The Derby distance increased from 500 to 525 yards and all the qualifying rounds were held at White City. There were 96 entries from around the country.

Final result

At White City :
PositionName of GreyhoundBreedingTrapSPTimeTrainer
1stBoher Ash Over the Water - Honey Bee II15-130.48Tommy Johnston Sr.
2ndFabulous Figure De Novo - Flash and Flare211-10f30.50Joe Harmon
3rdMusical Box Jamie - Bracelet45-130.52John 'Jack' Golder
4thBendeemer Ballyshannon - Ballyvoyle3100-830.68John 'Jack' Kennedy
5thMoorland Rover Cheerful Speed - Moorland Falcon54-130.74Godfrey Hyde-Clarke
6thBaby Elephant Jamie - Naughty Ninette620-130.80Joe Harmon

Distances

hd, hd, 2, ¾, ¾
The distances between the greyhounds are in finishing order and shown in lengths. From 1927-1950 one length was equal to 0.06 of one second but race times are shown as 0.08 as per modern day calculations.

Review

Boher Ash, a brindle dog owned by Mrs Molly Stokes won his first round heat by 8 lengths in a time of 30.70 sec at a starting price of 8/11. He continued his winning ways in the second round when winning by 5 lengths in a time of 30.59 at evens favourite.
In the semi-finals, Fabulous Figure inflicted a 3 length defeat on Bendeemer in 30.76. Boher Ash scraped through to the final after the Edinburgh dog missed the break. The winner of the second semi-final was Musical Box in a time of 30.80, one length ahead of Moorland Rover. Baby Elephant, a further length back claimed the last spot in the final.
The final was made up of five greyhounds from London and one from Scotland. Fabulous Figure was installed as 11/10 favourite; with the trap 5 dog Moorland Rover the second favourite at 4/1. From the traps the favourite was boxed in but Boher Ash was lying handy. Boher Ash took the lead at the half way mark and held on to win by a half-length from the fast finishing favourite. Musical Box was a neck further away in third.

See Also