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So far, only four dogs have managed to win the English Greyhound Derby twice, and one of these four accomplished individuals was Westmead Hawk (2003-2014) who took his victories in 2005 and 2006.
Races won by Westmead Hawk had a tendency to be nail-biters, because Westmead Hawk rarely took the lead early on in the race. Instead, he preferred to pick up speed during the later stage of the race.
The first non-human athlete replica exhibited at Madame Tussauds was that of Westmead Hawk. After his two derby wins, a wax replica of him was created for the special exhibition Best of British, where he was displayed alongside human athletes such as David Beckham and Jonny Wilkinson.
Background
Westmead Hawk was born in May 2003. His father was Sonic Flight, the runner-up of the 2001 English Greyhound Derby.
Both Sonic Flight and his son Westmead Hawk was owned by Bob Morton.
Trainer
Nack Savva had been retired from his training career for several years when he decided to come out of retirement to train Westmead Hawk.
The English Greyhound Derbys of 2005 and 2006
For the final of the 2005 English Greyhound Derby, Westmead Hawk was the betting favourite. He started from box #4 and didn´t go to the front early in the race. Rather late in the race, Hawk suddenly picked up speed, passing the leader Blonde Marc at the final curve and keeping the lead all the way to the end, securing £100,000 in prize money. His time for the race was 28.56 seconds.
Westmead Hawk was the betting favourite for the final of the 2006 English Greyhound Derby too, after winning all five qualifying rounds. Unlike the derby final in 2005, he took the second position early in the 2006 final, after Mineola Farloe. At the last curve, he caught up with Mineola Farloe. Westmead Hawk won the final with a very small margin: ¾ length.
Broken hock
Less than a month after the 2006 English Greyhound Derby, Westmead Hawk broke his hock while participating in a race at Hall Green. This became his last race, as he was retired from racing afterwards.
Later life
After retiring from the world of racing, Westmead Hawk lived a comfortable life with his trainer Nick Savva in Dunstable, England. He became a popular stud dog and produced several notable offspring, including Taylor Sky (Dame: Rising Angel) who won the 2011 English Greyhound Derby and Sidaz Jack (Dame: Ballaghboy Cool) who won the 2013 English Greyhound Derby.
Westmead Hawk died on the 26th of May, 2014, aged 11.
Dogs who have won the English Greyhound Derby more than once
Winning the English Greyhound Derby once is a remarkable accomplishment in itself, and winning it twice is almost unheard of. So far, throughout the history of the derby, only four dogs have won it more than one time:
- Mick the Miller won in 1929 and 1930
- Patricia’s Hope won in 1972 and 1973
- Rapid Ranger won in 2000 and 2001
- Westmead Hawk won in 2005 and 2006