No Hall Of Fame would be complete without the amazing exploits of Some Picture in 1997. The ultimate that can be achieved by any greyhound in modern day racing is the ‘impossible’ Derby treble. Namely the Scottish, English and Irish versions.
Some Picture came within a whisker of becoming one of the most celebrated greyhound’s ever and, had he not struggled with illness in the Irish version, may well have completed what, until then, was regarded as nothing more than a wild dream.
He first came to prominence at the back end of 1996 when winning the Eclipse at Nottingham in rather good style. That success was enough to gain his an invitation to the Select Stakes and he duly hacked up in the annual one-off race and was obviously out of the top drawer.
However, what he achieved in 1996 paled into insignificance the following year as Some Picture confirmed himself as one of the outstanding greyhounds of the 90s. Trained by Charlie Lister, a no-nonsense northerner with a rough edge and the eye of an eagle when it comes to watching the greyhounds in his care, Some Picture’s campaign was carefully mapped out.
The Regal Scottish Derby seemed a natural for this gloriously gifted animal and he breezed through the competition with hardly a blemish and was fast becoming a leading contender for the one that really mattered, the English Derby. It had not gone unnoticed by connections, however, that Regal were offering a £100,000 bonus to any greyhound that won their Scottish event and went on to take the English and Irish equivalents.
Just winning the Scottish Derby would be a dream come true to most greyhound folk but Lister had an air of confidence about him when it came down to talking about Some Picture. The greyhound lived up to some very high expectations with a glorious unbeaten run in the English Derby, his performance in the final marking him as one of the all time greats.
All of a sudden, the ‘impossible’ began to look more than possible and, to some, even probable.
The preparation was underway for the greatest achievement in modern day greyhound racing. The Irish held Some Picture in great esteem and he was installed as one of the favourites for the biggest race on the Irish calendar.
The early rounds went well and Some Picture was looking every inch capable of lifting the Triple Crown but, whether it was a change in routine, scenery, diet or a mixture of all, Some Picture was slightly off colour during the latter stages of the event.
Almost miraculously, he still managed to battle his way through to the final but he was clearly not at his best and he took a whack at the start in the big final and that was to put paid to his chances.
It was the end of a fantastic career and Some Picture was just one step away from becoming immortal in greyhound racing. His exploits, however, caught the eye of the national Press and he was to feature in countless articles, which compared the canine star with the best of his human counterparts.