Spanish Battleship became the greatest greyhound in Irish history by securing a third consecutive Irish Greyhound Derby title. No other greyhound had managed to win more than one Irish Derby previously. Before retiring, he broke the track record at Cork during his Laurels victory and won another McCalmont Cup title. His connections turned down a £15,000 bid from a London syndicate.[5][4][8] Rushton Mac defeated the versatile and hot favourite Barrowside in the English Greyhound Derby final.[2]
The new Derby champion Rushton Mac won the Welsh Greyhound Derby at Cardiff Arms Park, winning the final by nine lengths, flattering because the race turned into chaos as three runners fell. Derby finalists Gulf of Honduras and Coolkill Chieftain finished second and third respectively.[9][10] The Scottish Greyhound Derby was cancelled again, denying Rushton Mac the opportunity to win the Triple Crown. He had won the Scottish event in 1954 to hold all three titles at the same time but had not won all three during the same year.[9][10][11][12]
In November the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) applied for a special licence to allow Spanish Battleship to line up against two of England's leading greyhounds, Duet Leader and Hi There, in a triangular match race. The match saw the GRA put up £120, in addition to the three owners adding 125 guineas; Spanish Battleship (Tim O'Connor), Duet Leader (Mrs Frances Chandler) and Hi There (Jack McAllister). Home Straight stood as reserve. The legendary Irish hound Spanish Battleship travelled to England for the first time with White City as his destination but age and the travelling had caught up with him, because home track advantage proved decisive and he trailed in third. Tom Lynch and Tim O'Connor retired him to stud.[7][9][10]