Today marks the 30th anniversary of the birth of Toms The Best
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the birth of the only Greyhound to have won an English and Irish Greyhound Derby, Toms The Best.
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the birth of the only greyhound to have won an English and Irish Greyhound Derby, Toms The Best.
Few Walthamstow regulars can have imagined the career that awaited Toms The Best when Nick Savva’s dog was beaten in his first two graded races there in March 1997, but just six months later he was halfway towards becoming the first Greyhound to win both the English and Irish Derby.
Bred by Ian Greaves in Monasterevin from a mating between Frightful Flash and Ladys Guest, Tom was sold to Eddie Shotton for £10,000 after winning his only race at Shelbourne Park.
He joined Nick Savva, for whom he landed a stewards enquiry when finding 89 spots in a graded race at Walthamstow and was allowed to take his chance in the Derby at Wimbledon after just seven British outings.
Having finished third in his first three rounds, he made unspectacular progress to the quarter-finals where he produced one of the runs of the competition to win by over six lengths from the high-class He Knows. He had no luck at all when reaching the semi-final stage and following trouble in running, he exited the competition having finished fourth. However, he did go on to win the consolation final that year.
Toms The Best was well and truly on the map now and went on to land a couple of big-races victories in the Midland Gold Cup at Monmore and Sussex Cup at Hove. He then headed off to Shelbourne Park where he made the final of the 1997 Ireland On Sunday Irish Derby.
Some Picture, the Scottish and English Derby winner, was bidding to complete the treble and both he and Toms The Best made it through to the final, although the Savva dog was still looking for his first win in the event.
However, he picked the perfect time to land that first victory in the final. From his favourite draw out wide in trap six, he proved too strong for gallant veteran Vintage Prince. A 4-1 chance in the betting, he found himself in pursuit of early leader Vintage Prince coming around the last two bends and then pulled away to win by a length in 30.09sec for the 550 yards and now it was he, rather than Some Picture, with eyes on a historic Derby double as Wimbledon would be his main target in 1998.
The decision was to give him a light campaign with the emphasis on not over racing him before the Derby, and he was entered for the Blue Riband at Wembley and Scottish Derby at Shawfield prior to the big one and he reached the finals of both, going down to He Knows and kennelmate Larkhill Jo respectively. Trainer Nick Savva is pictured with both Toms The Best and Larkhill Jo below:
So, to Wimbledon, where an odds-on first round reverse was the only hiccup on otherwise serene progress through to the final. And on June 27 1998, the 4-5 favourite wrote his name into the history books when leading at halfway and pulling clear to beat Tuesdays Davy by over four lengths. Just the length he was beaten by Larkhill Jo at Shawfield had prevented the ‘impossible’ Derby treble.
Toms The Best was retired from racing with career winnings of almost £115,000 and a record of 40 races, 21 wins, 7 seconds, 8 thirds, and 4 fourths. Tom had various fertility problems at stud but nevertheless reached number two on the sires table and spent five years in the top three.
Noted for the honesty and stamina of his progeny, among his offspring were Caloona Striker, Fear No One, Louis Saha, Toms Little Jo, Frisby Folly, Midway Tomsscout, Westmead Woofa, Head Iton Jordan, Kanoute, Making Merry and Shevchenko
Unfortunately, Toms The Best died at Nick Savva’s kennel in Bedfordshire aged 13 in 2008
