One of the most prestigious pieces of silverware in Victoria’s greyhound racing history – the 1923 Waterloo Cup – has been generously donated to Greyhound Racing Victoria by Ross Dickie.

The 1923 Waterloo Cup was held at Geelong and won by Unie (Achieved – Una Verse), a brindle and white greyhound trained by Ross’ grandfather, the late Charles Dickie, of Bacchus Marsh. Unie’s half sister, Vanity Verse, which was trained by Dr W. A. Stewart, was the runner-up, however, the greyhound was withdrawn from the final course because of injury, leaving Unie the winner.

Ross, 79, supplied an extract of a newspaper article reporting on the 1923 Waterloo Cup:

‘In beautiful weather, the greatest coursing event yet recorded in the history of the sport in Australasia was brought to a conclusion today before the largest attendance of visitors that has ever been seen at a coursing meeting. The two special trains from Melbourne were well patronised, and many interstate visitors were present, thus indicating that the Waterloo Cup of 1923 has created the greatest interest in all parts of Australia. This season the National Coursing Club decided to increase the entry fee from £6/6/ to £10/10/, and many thought the change would bring failure to the historic event. However, there was an unprecedented rush for nominations and about 140 applications were received two months before the closing date. The National Coursing Club called a meeting to alter the conditions of the Waterloo Cup of 1923 to extend the limit of entries from 64 dogs to 128 dogs. It was agreed the winner would receive £1,000. Reports indicated that betting on the result was prolific.’