Waterloo Cup
Encyclopedia
Coursing
Coursing is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—catching their prey by speed, running by sight and not by scent. Coursing was a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, the landed and wealthy, and commoners with sighthounds and lurchers...
event. The three day event was run annually at Great Altcar
Great Altcar
Great Altcar is a village and civil parish in West Lancashire, close to Formby on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. The name Altcar is Norse meaning "marsh by the Alt". The church of St Michael and All Angels is a timber framed structure dating from 1879....
in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from 1836 to 2005 and it used to attract tens of thousands of spectators to watch and gamble on the coursing matches. It was founded by William Philip Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton, and, originally, was supported by his patronage.
It was the biggest annual hare coursing
Hare coursing
Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game. It has a...
event in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and was often referred to by its supporters as the blue riband event of the coursing year. A hare coursing event of identical name was held in Australia from 1868 to 1985, at which point it became a lure coursing
Lure coursing
Lure coursing is a sport for dogs that involves chasing a mechanically operated lure. Competition is usually limited to dogs of purebred sighthound breeds.-Lure course:...
event.
Run as a knock-out
Single-elimination tournament
A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
tournament between sixty four coursing greyhound
Greyhound
The Greyhound is a breed of sighthound that has been primarily bred for coursing game and racing, and the breed has also recently seen a resurgence in its popularity as a pedigree show dog and family pet. It is a gentle and intelligent breed...
s from Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, supporters described it as the ultimate test of a greyhound
Greyhound
The Greyhound is a breed of sighthound that has been primarily bred for coursing game and racing, and the breed has also recently seen a resurgence in its popularity as a pedigree show dog and family pet. It is a gentle and intelligent breed...
but opponents of hare coursing
Hare coursing
Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game. It has a...
, such as the League Against Cruel Sports
League Against Cruel Sports
The League Against Cruel Sports are an animal welfare organisation that campaigns against all blood sports including bull fighting, fox hunting and hare coursing. It also campaigns to ban the manufacture, sale and use of snares, for the regulation of greyhound racing and for an end to commercial...
, saw it as a celebration of cruelty. The Hunting Act 2004
Hunting Act 2004
The Hunting Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act is to outlaw hunting with dogs in England and Wales from 18 February 2005...
which came into force just after the 2005 cup made hare coursing events illegal in England and Wales, and the Waterloo Cup has not taken place since.
History
The Waterloo Cup was the premier event in the coursing calendar and known as the 'blue ribbon of the leash'. It was inaugurated in 1836 by Mr William Lynn, proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel in Liverpool's Ranelagh Street. Encouraged by the extra trade generated by the Waterloo Cup, the Liverpool entrepreneur turned his attention to the Turf the following year and organised the first running of the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, known as the Grand National since 1839.The first winner of the Waterloo Cup was a bitch named Melanie, owned by Lord Molyneux, the eldest son of the Earl of Sefton on whose land the contest was run on the plains of Altcar. In addition to stakes of £16, Lord Molyneux won a trophy in the form of a silver snuff box.
The first supreme champion in the sport of coursing was Lord Lurgan's greyhound Master McGrath
Master McGrath
Master McGrath was a famous greyhound in the sport of hare coursing.-Early days:Master McGrath was born in County Waterford, Ireland. A small, weak pup, he went on to become the most celebrated and successful dog of his time. Master McGrath was born in 1866 at Colligan Lodge, the home of James...
who won the Waterloo Cup on three occasions, 1868, 1869 & 1871. The dog became a household name in Britain and such was his fame that Queen Victoria commanded his appearance at Windsor Castle. Master McGrath set the standard by which all proceeding greyhounds would be judged. The great Master McGrath's record was finally eclipsed by Colonel North's greyhound "Fullerton" who recorded four consecutive victories in the Waterloo Cup between 1889 and 1892.
In later years the event has been championed by Newmarket Racecourse
Newmarket Racecourse
The town of Newmarket, in Suffolk, England, is the headquarters of British horseracing, home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country and many key horse racing organisations. Newmarket Racecourse has two courses - the Rowley Mile Course and the July Course. Both are wide, galloping...
trainer
Horse trainer
In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
Sir Mark Prescott.
The 2005 event, held on February 14-16, was eventually won by a dog called Shashi, bred by Ernest Smith, and owned by him with Albert Shackcloth and Michael Darnell. Trained at Malton, North Yorkshire
Malton, North Yorkshire
Malton is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The town is the location of the offices of Ryedale District Council and has a population of around 4,000 people....
by the Jonathan Teal, the winner beat Hardy Admiral, owned by Diana Williams, in the final.