1961 Irish Greyhound Derby

The 1961 Irish Greyhound Derby took place during July and August with the final being held at Harold's Cross Stadium in Dublin on 11 August 1961.

The winner Chieftain's Guest won £1,250 and was trained and bred by Leslie McNair, and jointly owned by McNair and Eric McCullough.

Final result
At Harold's Cross, 11 August (over 525 yards):

Distances
½, 1 (lengths)

Competition Report
Long Story and Sandown Dick were major eliminations during the first round and Clonmel record holder Odd Venture broke a hock whilst leading. First round winners included The Grand Canal, Ireland's leading bitch Wild Maid, Evening Irish and Ballycashen Rory.

In the second round The Grand Canal won again with Spark of Delight and Wild Maid also impressing. The first semi-final went to Wild Maid in 29.32 and The Grand Canal who remained unbeaten after recording 29.36 in the second semi-final. The final semi was won by Skips Choice in a slower time of 29.84.

The final saw three greyhounds prominent early, Skips Choice had etched out a lead but the strong finishing Chieftains Guest caught him and won by half a length to land a hefty gamble with The Grand Canal also running on strongly a further length behind. Chieftains Guest who had failed to win a race leading up to the final was to finish lame on his wrist.