The ill-fated pacer Vanderford, after whom the greyhound was named, won a heat of the Dunedin Festival Cup at Forbury Park in 1964.
He started favourite from 12 yards in the hands of Maurice Holmes.
Vanderford won 15 races and 15,910 in the 1960s.
He was put down after becoming fractious on a flight to North America in 1965.
Sorry Vanderford is trained by Ray Adcock at Dunsandel and was recording his fourth win on end and his seventh from 24 starts.
Sorry Vanderford is raced by Allan Joyce and Michael May of Christchurch.
They bred the dog and raced his mother.
Joyce recalled last night that it was through his late father, Jeff, that the dog was named.
"My father was a great racing fan and he related to me the tragic story of the well-performed pacer Vanderford, who was axed to death after going berserk on the inaugural flight of horses from New Zealand to North America.
"That stayed with me and I thought it appropriate that I name a dog after the horse, which would be my way of saying sorry for the untimely demise of that great pacer."
Recently, Joyce was contacted by a woman from Brisbane who sent him letters about the horse.
"A few months ago a woman was driving along a Brisbane highway listening to a greyhound race from New Zealand when she heard the name of the dog, Sorry Vanderford."
"She contacted trainer Ray Adcock and told him of her connection to the pacer Vanderford," Joyce said.
The woman, Norma Babet, had been a stable hand for Don Hayes when he trained Vanderford to win his first four races.
Hayes (76), who is now retired in Kumeu, was her brother-in-law, being married to her sister, Bette.
"Norma recalled that there had been travel problems earlier with "Frankie" [Vanderford] when they tried to fly him to Auckland on one occasion.
She also related that his owner, Bill Barnes, had sold him to Canada for 100,000 - a huge price in those days.
Neither Hayes nor Babet accompanied Vanderford on the North American flight.
Hayes recalled recently that Vanderford became restless on the flight and when an attempt was made to calm him with tranquiliser he went berserk and the co-pilot made the decision to destroy the horse with a fire axe.
Barnes, who had leased Vanderford as a foal, with a right of purchase on him after he was a year old, sold him to United International Stables in Toronto, with the agreement that he return to New Zealand for a stud career.
Vanderford, by Great Evander from Milford Girl, won four races as a 2 and 3yr-old when trained by Hayes at Huapai.
He finished second to Tactile in the 1962 New Zealand Derby.
Tactile set a NZ record for a 3yr-old over a mile and a-half (2400m) in that race of 3.10 2-5.
Barnes, who lived at Akaroa, transferred Vanderford to the stable of Alf Bourne at Woolston.
Vanderford won his first six starts in a row for Bourne, including what Barnes regarded as his greatest thrill in racing, winning the 1963 Ashburton Flying Stakes, in which top mare Robin Dundee and the champion Cardigan Bay finished second and third respectively.
Vanderford started favourite in the 1963 New Zealand Cup and finished sixth behind Cardigan Bay, who had started from 54 yards.
Sorry Vanderford is held in high regard by Adcock.
"He has always shown ability," Adcock said last night.
Sorry Vanderford will have his next start in race one at Christchurch tonight and will race again at Auckland on Sunday.
