Nicolas Savva known as Nick Savva is a greyhound trainer and breeder. He is a four times winner of the

English Greyhound Derby The English Greyhound Derby is the most prestigious race on the British Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing calendar, with a history stretching back to 1927. It was first held at White City Stadium, but moved to Wimbledon ...

and is regarded as Britain's most successful breeder, along with his wife Natalie Savva (1935–2019) who also held the kennels training licence at one time.

Early life

Savva was born in 1934 in

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and left the island country for London where he gained work in an engineering factory and then a restaurant. He started attending race meetings at

Harringay Stadium Harringay Stadium was a major greyhound racing and motorcycle speedway venue in Harringay, north London. It was built and opened in 1927 and closed in 1987. Construction Harringay Stadium was the third greyhound racing stadium to open in Br ...

in 1952 and started a dressmaking business. He met Natalie Drew in 1957 and they married in 1961 before selling his dressmaking business and buying a kennels.

Career

Nick and Natalie started training and breeding greyhounds and became increasingly successful. Many of the greyhounds bred at their Westmead Kennels base were given a name with the Westmead prefix and in 1972 the kennel gained their first major success with Westmead Lane after winning the

Cesarewitch Cesarewitch may refer to: *Cesarewitch Handicap The Cesarewitch Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newmarket over ...

. Natalie held the trainer's licence at this stage and actually won the inaugural Trainers Championship (jointy with Geoff De Mulder in 1977. Westmead Myra reached the 1976 English Greyhound Derby final and based near

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the kennel would have spells at seven tracks;

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, Hackney,

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and

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but would race mainly unattached. During the next decade the Westmead name became the leading prefix with the likes of Westmead Power and Westmead Move, in addition Special Account won 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 ...

. The remainder of 1980s and early 1990s saw major wins for Olivers Wish, Flashy Sir, Westmead Harry, Westmead Surprise and many more. The quality of breeding increased even further with the likes of Phantom Flash, Staplers Jo, Toms The Best and Tralee Crazy. During 1997, Toms The Best claimed the

Irish Greyhound Derby The Irish Greyhound Derby held at Shelbourne Park, is the premier Greyhound racing in Ireland, greyhound racing competition in Ireland. First held at Harold's Cross Stadium, Harold's Cross in 1928, the event was unofficial until 1932 and called ...

and one year later the

, Tralee Crazy won a Classic double and Larkhill Jo won the

. Sonic Flight won the 2001 Scottish Derby before the Savva's established themselves as the industry leaders in breeding and training during an extraordinary spell. The spell came after he gained a new licence in 2004 following a two year break and saw

Westmead Hawk Westmead Hawk (May 2003 – 26 May 2014) was a black male greyhound. He was a two-time winner of the English Greyhound Derby in 2005 and 2006, and has drawn comparisons with Mick the Miller and horse Red Rum. Westmead Hawk was the father to ...

secure two consecutive English Derby wins in 2005 and 2006 and Westmead Lord set a record by completing a third successive Derby win for the kennel in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Awards

The Savva's are four times winners of the Trainers Championship in 1977, 1983, 2000 and 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savva, Nick British greyhound racing trainers 1934 births Living people