1949 Irish Greyhound Derby

Tim 'Chubb' O’Connor bred a successful litter from a mating with his brood bitch Cordal Moonlight. He mated her to Shaggy Lad and the subsequent litter of Spanish Lad, Spanish Emperor, Spanish Treasure and Ardraw Moonlight all performed well in coursing competitions ^[3] which prompted O'Connor to mate her again. This time it was to Rebel Abbey and resulted in a greyhound named Spanish Chestnut. The older pair of Spanish Lad and Spanish Emperor were aimed at the Irish Derby and expected to do well.^[4]

Spanish Lad broke the track record in round one, heat eight, with a time of 29.75; however Spanish Emperor could only finish second in heat seven lengths behind Labrais Bella. Spanish Lad won his quarter-final from Labrais Bell and Spanish Emperor also made it through.^[4]

In the semi-finals a greyhound called Friends Everywhere set a surprise track record of 29.74sec. Merry Courier and Spanish Emperor made the final but Labrais Bella did not. The second semi was also a surprise when Rushton News defeated odds on favourite Spanish Lad.^[3]

The final trap draw looked bad for Spanish Lad because he started from trap four but he overcame this when making a very fast break from the traps and was an easy winner. His brother Spanish Chestnut won the Irish Laurels in early September, aged just 18 months, beating Derby champion and older half-brother Spanish Lad into second place.^[4]

• 1949 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year