The Laurels is an original classic greyhound competition, and was first staged at Wimbledon Stadium in 1930 over 500 yds. Sidney Orton is best known as the handler of the legendary Mick The Miller, but not only did he train the winner of the inaugural event in Kilbrean Boy at a whopping 10-1, Orton sent out the winner of the Laurels no less than six times. The post-war years saw two titans of the sport in Ballylanigan Tanist and Endless Gossip land the Derby/Laurels double for Wembley's Leslie Reynolds, whilst Tom 'Paddy' Reilly and Jack Harvey were other handlers who collected the Laurels trophy on several occasions.
The Laurels was last held at Wimbledon in 1997, when El Premier obliged for Linda Mullins at odds of 4-7f. 1998 saw the event move to Belle Vue Stadium in Manchester, where it remained for eighteen years. During this period, the legendary Charlie Lister OBE sent out the winner on five occasions, including three in a row between 2004 and 2006, headed by the flying Ningbo Jack. Eden Star gave the 470m track record a bit of a shake when bolting up in 2011, the second of Barrie Draper's three successes, and Hiya Butt brought the curtain down on the Manchester era when scooting up for Hayley Keightley in 2016.
2017 saw a change of venue with the Laurels moving to the North East where Newcastle Stadium staged the event for a three year period, Ice On Fire cementing his position as one of the fastest greyhounds in training when running riot for Jimmy Fenwick in 2019.
The Laurels was not staged in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, but found a new home at Perry Barr in 2021, when Havana Class gave Liz McNair her second success in the competition, a full nineteen years after her first with Full Cigar.
