Westmead Hawk, the first animal athlete to have a waxwork at Madam Tussauds
Standing at par with the legendary greyhound, Mick the Miller, and the horse, Red Rum is Sonic Flight’s son, Westmead Hawk. He has been one of the hounds who was able to win the most prestigious English Greyhound Derby back-to-back, first in 2005 and then
in 2006.
He was entered as the 5 to 4 shot for the 2005 Derby, and had drawn the fourth trap to break from. His quizzical approach to the distance saw him bursting into speed only on the final turn and dodge the leader, Blonde Mac, by 1 ¾ lengths. He timed the track
distance in 28.56 seconds.
After bringing in the lucrative prize money of the English Derby, the connections had in mind for him the Irish Greyhound Derby at Shelbourne Park in the same year. Not measuring up to the previous Derby’s performance, he lost the race to a fifth position.
By the next season, the black hound was charged for the agenda of posting another English Greyhound Derby success. After dealing with the five qualifying rounds unscratched, he was entered as the most popular candidate for the final.
Making up the most of the same racing pattern as last year, he kept the eventual outcome a surprise for the highly hopeful connections and the crowds.
He followed in the pace set by, Mineola Farloe, and monopolised on the chances by the final two bends. Concluding the race by the very narrow margin of ¾ of a length, he got his name against the three other dogs who had won the English Derby more than once.
The endangered sport that was and is struggling for survival cannot forget the sincere contributions of the Charlie Lister trained time and again. Both the trainee and the handler are truly a blessing for the prosperity of the sport.
Lord David Lipsey, the Chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Board stated:
"We launched a five-year plan for the rejuvenation of the sport this year but Westmead Hawk is doing more to encourage people to come racing than anything us humans could do! He is a canine Red Rum."
The Bob Morton owned soon bid farewell to the career due to an injury, but has left some really overwhelming moments for the fans to cherish for years to come.
Westmead Hawk became the first animal athlete to have a waxwork at Madam Tussauds.
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