Jim Syder Sr.
{{Short description|British greyhound racing professional trainer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox horseracing personality
|name = Jim Syder Sr.
|image =
|caption =
|occupation = Greyhound Trainer
|birth_place = Fakenham, Norfolk
|birth_date = 14 December 1880
|death_place = London
|death_date = 21 April 1945
|career wins =
|race =
Classic/Feature wins:
English Greyhound Derby
(1937)
St Leger
(1937)
Cesarewitch
(1935)
Puppy Derby
(1929, 1932)
Trafalgar Cup
(1929, 1932, 1936)
|awards =
|honours =
|horses =
| }}
James Platten Syder, known as Jim Syder Sr. (1880-1945) was an English greyhound trainer. He achieved the highest training accolade when winning the English Greyhound Derby.{{cite book|last=Genders|first=Roy|title=The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing|year=1981|publisher=Pelham Books Ltd|isbn=07207-1106-1}}
Early life
Born in Fakenham, Norfolk during 1880, he was the son of a cattle salesman. He moved to Edmonton, London as a young man and also became a cattle salesman.
Career
In 1927 he made the decision to change career, entering into the fledgling industry of greyhound racing. He was one of the first greyhound trainers to gain employment at Wembley Stadium following the introduction of the Wembley greyhound racing{{cite news|title=The Greyhound Magazine (July 1972), Obituary page 5|year=1972|publisher=The Greyhound Magazine Company Ltd}}
He trained the runner-up in the 1928 Cesarewitch.{{cite book|last=Genders|first=Roy|title=The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing|pages =21|year=1981|publisher=Pelham Books Ltd|isbn=07207-1106-1}} One year later he won the inaugural 1929 Puppy Derby and inaugural 1929 Trafalgar Cup, with a puppy called So Green.{{cite book|last=Genders|first=Roy|title=NGRC book of Greyhound Racing|year=1990|publisher=Pelham Books Ltd|isbn=0-7207-1804-X}} So Green went on to reach the 1930 English Greyhound Derby final losing out to Mick the Miller.{{cite book|last=Dack|first=Barrie|title=Greyhound Derby, the first 60 years, pages 59-61|year=1990|publisher=Ringpress Books|isbn=0-948955-36-8}}{{cite web|url=http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?r=2564|title=1930|publisher=Greyhound Data}}
His son Jim 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 the 1931 English Greyhound Derby.{{cite book|last=Dack|first=Barrie|title=Greyhound Derby, the first 60 years, pages 61-63|year=1990|publisher=Ringpress Books|isbn=0-948955-36-8}}
They resided at Horsenden Farm (now a tourist attraction) in Greenford and later London Road, in St Albans but trained out of the Wembley Kennels. The first classic success arrived in 1935 when Grand Flight II won the Cesarewitch. Grand Flight II later reached the 1936 English Greyhound Derby final.{{cite book|last=Dack|first=Barrie|title=Greyhound Derby, the first 60 years|pages =71–74|year=1990|publisher=Ringpress Books|isbn=0-948955-36-8}}{{cite web|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxfshlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS101527261&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|title=OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. "Greyhound Racing." Times [London, England] 29 June 1936|work=The Times}}
His greatest achievement was in 1937 when Wattle Bark won the 1937 English Greyhound Derby, Syder trained three of the six finalists.{{cite book|last=Dack|first=Barrie|title=Greyhound Derby, the first 60 years|pages =74–75|year=1990|publisher=Ringpress Books|isbn=0-948955-36-8}}{{cite web|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxfshlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS85405916&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|title=OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. "Greyhound Racing." Times [London, England] 28 June 1937|work=The Times}} Also in 1937 he won the St Leger with Grosvenor Bob.{{cite book|last=Barnes|first=Julia|title=Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File|page =409|year=1988|publisher=Ringpress Books|isbn=0-948955-15-5}}
Wattle Bark reached the 1938 English Greyhound Derby final before World 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.{{cite book|last=Genders|first=Roy|title=The Greyhound and Racing Greyhound|year=1975|publisher=Page Brothers (Norwich)|isbn=0-85020-0474}}