Ballyregan Bob and Scurlogue Champ: the champions who lit up the greyhound world

Published in the Racing Post on October 2, 2011

A quarter of a century ago greyhound racing in Britain surged in popularity through an entirely unanticipated impact of two great staying champions, Ballyregan Bob and Scurlogue Champ. Extraordinarily, and in entirely different ways, they both proved unique, which added to their allure.

Ballyregan Bob, whose trainer George Curtis last week celebrated his 88th birthday, was seen as the perfect greyhound, a beautifully balanced aristocrat. Scurlogue Champ, by contrast, was enigmatic and unpredictable. He dropped himself out into hopeless positions, occasionally being booed by disappointed fans, before suddenly 'waking up', taking off and staggering onlookers with impossible wins.

Bob Betts, then-greyhound editor of The Sporting Life, underlines: "There was a huge contrast between the pair. Ballyregan Bob was almost a public school dog, had come over as a potential star and was with a top trainer in George Curtis, whereas Scurlogue was an unknown bought for a song out of Shelbourne sales by an unknown, the late Ken Peckham.

"And let's be honest, in greyhound parlance Scurlogue was the biggest 'screw' of all time. But the pair became greyhound gods and revitalised the sport. The promoters, as ever, didn't exploit them sufficiently, but they drew people from all over Britain. If only we could regularly find such performers."

UK racing records

Ballyregan Bob
Races 45
Wins 41

Scurlogue Champ
Races 63
Wins 51

Betts says the public loved Scurlogue for the way "he did the impossible. Bob, though, did it over four and six bends, and there was one particular race at Romford when he just got up too. But the truth was nothing could beat Ballyregan, he was unbelievably fast, even though he ran the bends middle or middle-to-wide. Scurlogue, by contrast, took off when all seemed lost. They were genuine superstars."

Floyd Amphlett, editor of the Greyhound Star, recalls the contrast: "This was a bit like heroes and villains, like Steve Davis versus Alex Hurricane Higgins – Bob and George were squeaky clean, a bit boring in one sense, but did everything right. Scurlogue and Ken Peckham were 'villains'. With Scurlogue, like the Hurricane, you never knew what lay ahead, plus Ken was a real down-to-earth character.

"But thanks to Scurlogue I remember non-greyhound people becoming aware of the sport for the first time – something of a miracle. Scurlogue appeared on BBC Sportsnight as they still covered the TV Trophy, so there was a real awareness.

"But I also know that Nick Savva, who I've been working with on his pending book, felt there was a rare bond between George and Bob. They were a real team and it showed the way he went about his business."

During the period, though, it was Scurlogue who built up a fan club that followed him round the country in what became a travelling circus as promoters vied with each other to offer Ken and Pat Peckham blandishments to appear.

Ballyregan Bob, before being campaigned over six bends, would also put up stirring finishes over sharper trips – with an April 1985 win over 475m at Walthamstow often cited by those present as being the greatest race ever seen.

Ballyregan Bob: set a world record 32 consecutive wins, memorably capped in the Racing Post World Challenge at Hove on December 9, 1986Credit: Steve Nash

This is partly due to the unusual nature of the event, and a stadium being split 50-50 in support. It was the Trainers' Championship, with Ballintubber One representing local handler Ken Linzell and seen as a true four-bend champion and confidently backed by the home crowd.

Ballyregan Bob, sent off a marginal 10-11 favourite, with the other four runners no-hopers, was the star visitor – filling the other half of the Stow with his supporters.

When Ballintubber One cleared the first bend and set up an 'unassailable' advantage over the four bends, the locals roared with triumphant delight.

But then Bob began to edge closer, and as the pair rounded the final bends, an extraordinary crescendo of cheering broke out – each dog being massively roared on in a way that has never been heard since.

Only as they turned for home did the power of Ballyregan Bob see him assert – and he drew clear for a two-length success.

Defeat in that year's Blue Riband at Wembley was to be one of the last times he raced over four bends, although he took in and won Hove's 1985 Olympic over the stiff 515m before going exclusively over six bends. It began a sequence that was to see him set a world record 32 consecutive wins, memorably capped in the Racing Post World Challenge at Hove on December 9, 1986, when the BBC Nine O'Clock news was interrupted to show the race live.

Modern-day fans often point to Westmead Hawk's hopeless position as described by the Errol 'Oh my God' Blyth commentary in the 2006 Derby semi-final before he picked up Mineola Farloe. This is undoubtedly one of the sport's all-time great performances, but earlier there was something even more astonishing.

Scurlogue Champ, in May 1985 at Wembley, took on that year's subsequent Leger winner Jet Circle, and found himself a bend behind as the leaders passed halfway. Against this class of runner, he had no chance, and almost mulishly was taking little interest.

There were many theories about Scurlogue Champ. One fancifully held that someone, somewhere, threw a switch that mysteriously galvanised him. Another was that he had a physical deformity that meant he was unable to gallop properly until he had 'warmed up' halfway through a race.

Both were laughed at by experts, but to anyone present at Wembley that night it was a case of two different dogs. 'Scurlogue one' was in the race to half-way, being hopelessly tailed off, but then 'Scurlogue two' suddenly appeared and simply took off. Despite being still last down the back at Wembley, he picked up to beat a class field in a manner that left veryone reeling.

Scurlogue Champ won two TV Trophies, at Monmore in 1985 over 815m – typically last to halfway before romping home in a track record – and then Brough Park, Newcastle in 1986, when he again powered through to thrill the watching TV audience. This was the only race, prior to the days of Sky or SIS, at the time being regularly broadcast.

Scurlogue Champ winning at Wembley in 1985

Gary Matthews, Wimbledon's RM, was working as a greengrocer in the mid-1980s – it was before he took out a permit training licence, which eventually led to track management.

He recalls: "Of the pair, Scurlogue was my favourite. I was a regular at Catford, and saw him one night there [in 1986] when, ridiculously, he led, obviously won a long way and set an 888m track record. Earlier I'd seen him run at Harringay in 1984, first time there, and he tailed off early. The punters booed him on the first lap, but suddenly that stopped and, after a stunned silence, it turned to cheers. He won going away, in a track record.

"Whenever he ran, you'd be forced to park and walk a long way away from the track. Nobody minded. He drew people from all over Britain, and amazed them. He was the ultimate showman."

Pat Quinn, chairman of the British Breeders' Forum, was a Ballyregan Bob fan. "I saw him race at Hove, shortly after he'd arrived from Ireland, and even before he won. He was in an A3 one night – I liked what I saw, and offered George £5,000, a large sum at the time. He didn't fall for it!

"I'm not sure he'd have been quite the same with any other trainer – there was a bond between Bob and George, you could see they were pals, and George was always the ultimate trainer of a stayer – so it seemed fitting he shaped the greatest ever. Bob had the happy combination of excellence plus luck, plus George in his corner."

Ballyregan Bob leads Glenowen Queen and Track Man on the first circuit at WembleyCredit: Steve Nash

The big two only met the once, over 710m at Wembley, in the invitational four-runner John Power Showdown, which was broadcast live on local London TV. It saw Scurlogue Champ drop out and stop – he was later reported lame – as Ballyregan Bob raced clear.

Betts' view was the entire race was a mistake in only having the four runners. "There wasn't anything for Scurlogue to follow around, so he stopped. The other three were gone."

Terry Norman, now a successful jockeys' agent, was assistant racing manager at Wembley at the time, and saved the day when dragging Scurlogue Champ to safety.

"It's hard to believe it was 25 years ago. I was at the Royal Tunnel, with Gerry Garnham, a security officer, and Track Man, Ballyregan Bob and Glenowen Queen raced past. Scurlogue was trailing badly, hardly taking part, he too went past, then stopped and turned back.

"Wembley still had the security fences at that time, so other than people on the bends nobody else could get on to the track. It was down to me: I leapt out, and for my pains, Scurlogue nutted me in the groin, and then Gerry helped me drag him to safety."

Crowds gather for the John Power Showdown between Ballyregan Bob and Scurlogue Champ at Wembley in December 1985Credit: Steve Nash

Norman says there were some 8,000 people there. "The place was mobbed, but Scurlogue had given up. And yet over the same 710m trip, a few weeks earlier, had been when he put up one of his greatest runs, picking up Jet Circle, a Leger winner, when looking in a hopeless position. Had there been TV coverage of it at the time, that alone would have sensational.

"Scurlogue was unearthly, a freak who proved a dud at stud [as did Ballyregan Bob]. He was an oddity who ran the second half of a race markedly faster than the first. Greyhounds can't do that, they run progressively slower, just some more so that others. Not the Champ. He was recording sprint times in the second half of a race. It was almost mystical.

"Ballyregan Bob, by contrast, was a proper greyhound, a machine, but it was Scurlogue the public came to see. You knew you'd never see the like again, and to be fair to either dog, we haven't. Never mind Racing For Change, greyhound racing could market videos of Scurlogue Champ even now."

Scurlogue Champ a few strides before going lame at Wembley in 1985Credit: Selwyn Photos

George Curtis, as he celebrated his 88th birthday last month, recalled: "Bob had a genuine heart of a lion, he was strong – and wouldn't stand for any messing about from rivals. He was also jealous and confident. He was hard as nails, yet the easiest dog to train – he'd a great appetite.

"After he retired, I felt his owner Cliff Kevern – who had been as good as gold – just got his head turned about his stud potential in America, and all of a sudden he was over there after breaking the world record. He was never any good at stud there and I got a call out of the blue asking if I'd like him back – I was delighted.

"Then the lady who had overseen his American trip wanted to parade him one night at Hackney, kept him for a little while, and suddenly he passed away. It must have been his time. He was about 12, and was afterwards preserved and kept in Tring's Natural History Museum.

"He was a one-off, the best ever. He was beautiful to look at – and still is.

"His Trainers' Championship win at Walthamstow was tremendous, but for me his greatest ever win came during the Essex Vase at Romford. John Coleman was standing next to me, and said as the race unfurled, 'I'm afraid he won't even qualify' . . . all of a sudden he began to motor, and got up by a short head – it was as exciting a race as I've seen."

Of Scurlogue Champ, Curtis says: "He was the greatest marathon dog of all time, but putting him against Bob over 710m at Wembley was a mismatch at the distance – Champ couldn't see the hare he was that far behind. I also noticed beforehand that he was a timid dog, frightened by the extreme noise. The race attracted a huge crowd and Bob couldn't care less, but the Champ didn't like it and came over all wobbly. But the excitement and appreciation they generated was extraordinary and lasts to this day. I suppose it will last forever."

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