Endless Gossip was a racing greyhound during the 1950s. He won the 1952 English Greyhound Derby.

Early life

He was bred by Henry Ernest Gocher, a retired cattle breeder. The choice of sire and dam was determined by Gocher's belief that greyhounds could be bred using the same genetic theories he had used for many years in raising prize beef cattle. He purchased the 1949 English Greyhound Derby champion Narrogar Ann and mated her to the 1948 English Greyhound Derby champion with the idea that this would result in a champion litter. The litter was whelped in March 1950 and they were given names with the initials EG after his own name. Both the sire and dam had been trained by

Leslie Reynolds Leslie Reynolds (1906–1961) was a leading English greyhound trainer. He was a five times winner of the English Greyhound Derby which constituted a record until beaten by Charlie Lister in 2011. Early life Reynolds was born during 1906 in ...

, which was also his chosen trainer for his pick of the new litter.

Racing career

One of the first targets for Endless Gossip was the 1952 English Greyhound Derby and he caused a sensation during the first round when winning in 28.52 seconds by ten lengths and recording a sectional time of 15.94, the first ever greyhound to break 16 seconds for a split time. He went on to win the Derby which culminated in the final on 28 June. Just one week later he won the

Welsh Greyhound Derby The Welsh Greyhound Derby was a former classic greyhound competition held in Wales. History The competition was held at the White City Stadium, Cardiff, White City Stadium in Cardiff from 1928 to 1937. The competition was sometimes run as a ...

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park (), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily a rugby union stadium, and also has a bowling green. It is situated in Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. The Arms Park was host to the 1958 British Empire and Common ...

and was denied the chance to win the Triple Crown when the

Scottish Greyhound Derby The Scottish Greyhound Derby was an original classic greyhound competition held from 1928 to 2019, at Carntyne Stadium and then Shawfield Stadium. History The competition was introduced at Carntyne Stadium in 1928. It was held until 1968 at ...

was cancelled. The fine form continued during the season when he then won the

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Wimbledon Stadium Wimbledon Stadium, also known as Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, was a greyhound racing track located in Wimbledon in southwest London, England. It also hosted stock car and other small circuit motor racing events, and until 2005 hosted motorc ...

. In 1953 he was the first Derby champion to compete in the

Waterloo Cup The Waterloo Cup was a hare coursing event organised by the National Coursing Club. The three-day event was run annually at Great Altcar in Lancashire, England, from 1836 to 2005 and it used to attract tens of thousands of spectators to watch and ...

coursing event, which was rare for a champion track racing greyhound before he headed back to White City to defend his Derby title. The campaign finished at the second round stage before he made a second Welsh Derby final. He finished his career with wins in the Select Stakes, at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

beating his great rival, Magourna Reject and the Wimbledon

Champion Stakes The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 1 furlong a ...

, which he again won from Magourna Reject. This brought his winnings to more than £5,000. He later won a prize in the show ring at

Crufts Crufts is an international dog show held annually in the United Kingdom, held since 1891, and organised by The Kennel Club. It is the largest show of its kind in the world. Crufts is primarily a championship conformation show for dogs, and ...

and was sold to Miss Joan Hunt, an American breeder, in Miami and was put to stud.

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom Racing greyhounds 1950 animal births