| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1880-12-14)14 December 1880 |
| Died | 21 April 1945(1945-04-21) (aged 64) |
| Occupation | Greyhound Trainer |
| Horse racing career | |
| Sport | Horse racing |
| Major racing wins | |
| Classic/Feature wins: English Greyhound Derby (1937) St Leger (1937) Cesarewitch (1935) Puppy Derby (1929, 1932) Trafalgar Cup (1929, 1932, 1936) | |
James Platten Syder, known asJim Syder Sr. (1880-1945) was an Englishgreyhound trainer. He achieved the highest training accolade when winning theEnglish Greyhound Derby.[1]
Born inFakenham,Norfolk during 1880, he was the son of a cattle salesman. He moved toEdmonton, London as a young man and also became a cattle salesman.
In 1927 he made the decision to change career, entering into the fledgling industry ofgreyhound racing. He was one of the first greyhound trainers to gain employment atWembley Stadium following the introduction of theWembley greyhound racing[2]
He trained the runner-up in the 1928Cesarewitch.[3] One year later he won the inaugural 1929Puppy Derby and inaugural 1929Trafalgar Cup, with a puppy called So Green.[3][4] So Green went on to reach the1930 English Greyhound Derby final losing out toMick the Miller.[5][6]
His sonJim Syder Jr. started working for him in 1930, as a kennel hand and the father and son team reached another Derby final with Golden Hammer in the1931 English Greyhound Derby.[7]
They resided at Horsenden Farm (now a tourist attraction) inGreenford and later London Road, inSt Albans but trained out of the Wembley Kennels. The first classic success arrived in 1935 when Grand Flight II won the Cesarewitch.[3] Grand Flight II later reached the1936 English Greyhound Derby final.[8][9]
His greatest achievement was in 1937 when Wattle Bark won the1937 English Greyhound Derby, Syder trained three of the six finalists.[10][11] Also in 1937 he won theSt Leger with Grosvenor Bob.[12]
Wattle Bark reached the 1938English Greyhound Derby final beforeWorld War II intervened. Before racing returned to Wembley on a regular basis Syder died during April 1945 and the Wembley licence passed to his son.[13]