Oaks heroine Decimal Queen and the previous year’s third placed greyhound Leap and Run were two other leading contenders.

[3] The first round consisted of nine heats and three fast winners were Super Rory (28.59), Suburban Gent (28.65) and Westmead County (28.76), both ante-post favourites went out.

Irish entry Proud Life, Bally Lander from Walthamstow and Lucky Punter trained by Peter Hawkesley took the other heat wins.

[3] Proud Life won again to claim the first semi-final from Patricias Hope and Micks Pride; hot favourite First Case trained by Tom Johnston Jr could only finish fifth.

[3] An anonymous offer of £12,000 was followed by a £14,000 by Freddie Warrell for Super Rory but both were turned down and he was sent to traps as the 4-9 favourite for the final.