Only two dogs are slipped at a time. As the hare enters the running ground they are held by the slipper, a trained official licensed by the National Coursing Club. Only when the slipper is satisfied that the hare is in a fit condition to have a chance of escape, and only when the hare is at least 80 yards in front of him, does he release the dogs.

The judge follows the course on horseback and awards each dog, which wears a distinguishing red or white collar, points for speed and for the ability to make the hare turn to evade its pursuers. Coursing stakes are simple knock-out competitions, and the winners progress through each round until a final of two dogs remains. Thus, to win the 64-runner Waterloo Cup, a greyhound will run six times over the three days of the meeting.

An average course lasts 35-40 seconds in which time a greyhound can cover a third of a mile. Hares have greater stamina than the greyhounds, and the dogs' initial speed advantage is soon overcome since with an 80 yard slip it will be about 300 yards before the greyhound reaches the hare. A hare weighing 10-12 lbs can turn in its own length while a greyhound weighing six or seven times as much will invariably overshoot.

As the dogs only chase by sight, once the hare has escaped the dogs will pull up and the course is over. Under the Rules of the National Coursing Club (N.C.C.) coursing may not take place in an artificially enclosed ground. At some grounds, like those over which the Waterloo Cup is run, special called "soughs" are installed to aid the escape.

The object of coursing under National Coursing Rules is to test greyhounds, not to kill hares. The rules of coursing are designed specifically to assist the hares to escape. In an average season, seven out of eight hares escape.
In nearly every case of a hare being brought clown, death is instantaneous.

Even so the Rules insist on "dispatchers" in a place of vantage whose function is to ensure that a hare brought down is dispatched immediately if not already dead.