The Premier Greyhound Racing St Leger is indeed the premier staying competition of the year for greyhounds. Staged over the Perry Barr 710m trip, the event is a proper test of a greyhound, requiring speed, stamina and courage in equal measure. With a first prize of £20,000, and total prize money in excess of £31,000, the very best staying greyhounds in the country have descended on Perry Barr in 2023 for a chance to etch their name in the history books.
First staged at Wembley in 1928 when Alf Mulliner’s Burletta took home the silverware, the St Leger is steeped in history, with the roll of honour a veritable who’s who of the best greyhounds and trainers the sport has ever seen. Famous hounds to have triumphed at Wembley include Mick The Miller, Ataxy, Magourna Reject, Clonalvy Pride, Dolores Rocket and Tartan Khan, the latter pair having also won the Greyhound Derby. Trainer Jack Harvey handled the winner on no less than five occasions between 1949 and 1961, a total which was equalled by multiple champion trainer Mark Wallis in 2017, Mark having taken just nine years to accrue his haul.
The ‘Twin Towers’ hosted the St Leger until 1999, when it transferred to Wimbledon, where Nick Savva’s Dilemmas Lad became the first winner at the new venue for breeder Jack Elias. Other notable SW19 winners still fresh in the memory include the great Palace Issue, Roxholme Girl, Spiridon Louis, Kinda Easy and Farloe Tango. Following the closure of the South London venue, the St Leger found a new home at Perry Barr in Birmingham in 2017, Rubys Rascal claiming the honours, and it has remained there ever since, Havana Lover taking home the title for Liz McNair last year.
