Editing Waterloo Cup (section)

==History==

The Waterloo Cup was the premier event in the coursing calendar and was 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 Milanie, owned by [[Charles Molyneux, 3rd Earl of Sefton|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 [[Charles Brownlow, 2nd Baron Lurgan|Lord Lurgan]]'s greyhound [[Master McGrath]], who won the Waterloo Cup three times, in 1868, 1869, and 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 later greyhounds would be judged. The great dog'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, Suffolk|Newmarket]] [[Horse trainer|trainer]] [[Sir Mark Prescott]].

The 2005 event, held on 14{{ndash}}16 February, 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]], by Jonathan Teal, the winner beat Hardy Admiral, owned by Diana Williams, in the final. The event was memorably filmed by [[Paul Yule (photojournalist)|Paul Yule]] for the documentary ''The Last Waterloo Cup'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.paulyule.com/film/the-last-waterloo-cup/|title = The Last Waterloo Cup}}</ref> subsequently shown on the BBC.