Duleek Dandy

My grandfather Bill Dash, told me that he had met an Irish friend at the West Ham track who recommended Duleek Dandy, a blue fawn to him. Vicki Dash then bought Duleek Dandy in October 1958 for £900 from a breeder in Duleek, Co Meath, Ireland, 20 months before the Derby race. Bill Dash said that it was top money at the time but they considered it worth it. The breeders were a kind and elderly couple called Joe and Molly Owens who later chose to watch the race on TV from their home in Ireland rather than travel to London. Joe later took over a local bar in Duleek and renamed it 'The Greyhound' in honour of Duleek Dandy.

Once Duleek Dandy was back home in Meldreth, a program of exercise and nutrition began and the dog won the Trafalgar Cup in 1959. He then suffered several injuries afterwards resulting in the dog being forced to run a trial race at the request of Major Percy Brown to gain entry to the Derby. Bert Dash worked hard with the dog which was subjected to water spray treatment and massage, which luckily got him fit in time to get a nose win at the trial. This resulted in Duleek Dandy claiming one of the twelve places available to greyhounds that were not originally selected by Brown. My grandfather Bill told me in later years that he saw lots of potential in the dog and knew that he was on to something big, even if Maj. Brown and the bookies didn't think so.

After the success of the Derby, my grandfather recalled that Duleek Dandy broke a hock soon afterwards on 10th September 1960 on a trial race at White City and ended up being medically retired from racing. When not competing, Duleek Dandy was described as naturally lazy and sleepy and loved chicken for dinner! Some unsuccessful attempts were made at breeding and after mating only one bitch, Duleek had clearly lost his mojo and turned away any other wanton female admirers. Duleek Dandy was retired to the greyhound paddock in Meldreth where he lived peacefully until 1968 when he died at the age of ten.