1953 Irish Greyhound Derby

Tim 'Chubb' O'Connor had taken charge of a litter in Ireland sired by Spanish Chestnut (the half-brother of 1949 Irish Greyhound Derby champion Spanish Lad). One of the litter Spanish Battleship was entered for the St Leger at Limerick but after winning a heat he failed to progress from the second round. O'Connor felt that he had gone well enough and phoned Tom Lynch in Dublin and asked him to train the dog for forthcoming Derby. The Derby was due to be held at Harolds Cross where regular racegoers had already seen Spanish Battleship perform well there.^[3]

In the first round he won in 29.84 before winning his semi-final in 30.04. The Irish public took a liking to the greyhound and he was sent off 2-1 favourite for the final.^[4] The fawn brindle made his trademark exit from the traps by going into an early lead but was challenged by Gay McKenna's Smokey Glen for much of the race. Spanish Battleship stayed on gamely to take the final win in 29.78. Tom Lynch had deservedly won Ireland's premier race for the first time and Spanish Battleship was on his way to becoming the greatest greyhound in the history of Irish racing.^[4]

1953 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year