who would win the race?

What is the terrain like, e.g. flat track or gorse-covered moors? Are tight corners involved?

 

I was going to go with the greyhound then, but forgot another important question - how far?

 

At a mile the Saluki without a doubt. Up to 100 yards I'd go with the Whippet, then up to around 1/4 to 1/2 mile the Grey, above this Saluki. Wolfhound though most likely enjoying the run would never stand a chance.

 

The hare that they are chasing

 

I wouldn't count on it! I concur with @Biker John - though I wasn't sure of the distance at which the saluki would overtake the greyhound (and the greyhound would crumple into an exhausted heap).

 

it could be all the above and more all dogs can be quick... but i think maybe a wippet

 

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the Saluki typically has greater endurance - the Whippet is faster over short distances, on the flat.
I agree the IW would enjoy the romp, but would be completely outclassed.
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At the racing club, every now and again someone turns up with a non Whippet, while we are setting up they say things like 'He is really fast'. Then the racing starts and they always say 'by heck he's not that fast'. The acceleration of a fit Whippet is phenominal.

 

Well trained Irish Wolfhounds can go 45 and over. But with the average one.....Greyhounds do 60 in USA

 

Also add "kanni" an Indian dog breed who is extremely fast and intelligent in any terrain

 

I assume you're talking km per hour, not miles per hour?

 

No, miles an hour. Here in the USA a Greyhound is a little faster running at 60 miles an hour than a cheetah before the curve. But as it hit the curves to circle around, declines to 40 or 45 miles an hour. Cheetah's actual top speed is only 55 miles per hour. Irish Wolfhounds are incredible runners but MOST are not trained. Theodore Roosevelt's Irish Wolfhounds regularly caught Pronghorn Antelope which run 61 miles an hour.

Here's a Greyhound catching a 60 mile an hour lure.

Here's a Cheetah chasing a 60 mile an hour lure.

 

Do you have any independent sources for those speeds? I can't find anything online giving a top speed higher than 45mph for a greyhound (UK or US) and 35-40mph for an Irish wolfhound, whereas cheetahs have a recorded top speed of over 70mph.

 

There has NEVER-No-NEVER been a recorded speed of 70 miles an hour for Cheetahs, or ANY animal for that matter. It was a guestimate that early researchers placed the Cheetah's speed at using unreliable stopwatches. Radar recordings bare more reliable and they place the Cheetah's top speed at around 55 miles an hour but even that's uncommon. The Cheetah averages 35 - 45 miles an hour though SOME can hit around 55. The up-to-date studies even state that 80-90 and now even 70 miles an hour were all bizarre exaggerations. They are slower than the North American pronghorn Antelope by about 6 mph.

If you don't know that Greyhounds run 55 - 60 miles an hour then that's sad because it's actually old news. They run 45 miles an hour at he race's END. Retired races run 40 - 45 but even in the USA some do about 51 miles an hour. Irish Wolfhounds

Greyhound Racing : Sport of Kings? No, but It's Doggone Profitable

Cheetahs top speed is actually around 58mph rather than 70mph | Daily Mail Online

Cheetahs 'slower than we thought': Big cats' top speed is actually around 58mph rather than 70mph that has been accepted for decades

• Myth busted by researchers who attached GPS trackers to big cats
• They gathered data from 367 hunts and 58mph was the top speed
• Results will be shown on Sir David Attenborough's new TV series

By JEMMA BUCKLEY FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 20:33 EDT, 27 January 2015 | UPDATED: 03:44 EDT, 28 January 2015

It has long been admired as the fastest animal. But it seems the cheetah’s lead over other species is not as wide as we thought.

Research shows that the feline’s top speed is just 58mph, rather than the 70mph which was accepted for decades.

 

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a Dane & an IW coursing a lure -


3 IWs coursing, jacketed, at a club event in Ireland -


FCI Euro Hunstetten, 2015: IW Fs, 1st race


- terry
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I'm a bit dubious about the one report you mentioned just because I can't find anything corroborating it on the internet. If it's old news, it's certainly been well buried. I'm not saying that you're wrong, just doing my own research.

The case of the cheetah is interesting. According to Wikipedia, 'the most reliable measurement of the typical speed during a short chase is 112 km/h (70 mph).[13][69][106][107] However, this value of the maximum speed is disputed,[13] with more recent measurements using solar-powered GPS collars in 367 hunts showing a maximum speed of 93 km/h (58 mph).[108][109]

So to me, the jury is still out on that one. I'd need to check the evidence cited for the higher speeds. I'd certainly not regard the Daily Mail or pretty much any media source as reliable!

 

Scottish Deerhound vs. Whippet. Sidenote, a Whippet is not as fast as a Sloughi at all. Whippets are historically rumoured as quicker accelerators than the Greyhound and ALL dogs for that matter, but that also applies to the Cheetah and yet the Greyhound is quicker than both accelerators. But Sloughis can do 50 miles an hour in Arabia while Whippets top out at 40. It has much to do with SIZE and length as to why Sloughis are faster than Whippets. But well trained Scottish Deerhounds are competitive!

Other than the Greyhound, Saluki/Sloughi, Whippet the vast majority of sighthounds are NOT TRAINED TO COURSE. Greyhounds are major track runners and even retired Grehounds that run lure coursing meets are more conditioned to win than any other coursing breed. Salukis are likewise trained regularly in Arabia and Whippets next. Other breeds simply run because their owners take them to occasional meets simply because it's a sighthound but VERY FEW members of other breeds are trained coursers so it's hard to determine their actual capability.

I know that well-trained Scottish Deerhound in early America could do slightly slower than the English Greyhound at about 59 miles an hour. Quicker than a Saluki, Whippet and most other! But be honest, how many well-trained Scottish Deerhound have you seen??? Standard lure coursing meets are merely a matchup of largely 3 trained coursing breeds vs the untrained rest. What if a trained Irish Wolfhound or Scottish Deerhound raced against the others? There would be some upsets. Theodore Roosevelt's and Custer's pets were examples.