Greyhound Racing

BetAmerica presents the weeks top stories from Palm Beach.

Redhound Racing Repairs presented its first-ever Greyhound Track Safety Award to Palm Beach Kennel Club at the Greyhound Hall Of Fame awards ceremony Thursday night, Oct. 15, during the NGA Fall Meet in Abilene, Ks.

Another award—the Golden Track Award, in recognition of outstanding efforts in track functionality and operational integrity—was also presented by Redhound to Abilene Greyhound Park and its owner, Maurice Flynn, of Abilene.

Four rounds of qualifying for the championship and consolation races for the Iowa Breeders Cup at the Iowa Greyhound Park and it all came down to one point and one finish on Sunday, Oct. 18.

One point separated the last of the qualifiers for the championship race with the eight who made the consolation race. One finish separated the final consolation entry with the best of the non-qualifiers.

Xkt Dave Turin (XTREM Racing), 16-4-3-3, found himself last in the early going of the fourth round race and could rally only for a sixth place finish. However those two points gave him 42 for the four rounds and just enough to become the final qualifier.

A greyhound breeder and kennel operator has sued the West Virginia Racing Commission and some of its officials, claiming they have conspired to ostracize him from greyhound racing.

Dean Miner of Wheeling filed his complaint in Ohio Circuit Court against the commission as well as WVRC judges Ralph T. Brehm, Manuel Vidis and Holly O’Hara as well as WVRC Veterinarian Lori Bohenko. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey also is listed as a defendant, but he isn’t named in the complaint.

Miner says there was a hearing on June 12, 2012, regarding an alleged violation of a Greyhound Racing Rule by Miner and kennel owner Neil Abrahamson. The WVRC alleged that 12 greyhounds were brought into West Virginia on May 9, 2012, to race at Wheeling Island with no health certificates or expired health certificates. The dogs were owned by Miner and his ex-wife Adrienne Miner. He says he believes Bohenko filed the complaint.

Travis Bartley, president of the Kansas Greyhound Association and baseball coach for Abilene High School, was counting his blessings Tuesday afternoon.

 “We were lucky. We were very, very lucky,” Bartley told the Abilene Reflector- Chronicle, recalling how his family’s home was destroyed Monday night by what the National Weather Service in Topeka is called “multiple microbursts.”

Others are saying that it was definitely a tornado.

Former president of Biscayne Kennel Club and the first female president of the AGTOA, Kay Spitzer, passed away in early September. She was 75.

Ms. Spitzer was born June 11, 1940 in Miami, and attended Coral Gables High School and Florida State University.

There is no truth to the rumor that, at the halfway point of the qualifying for the $60,000 Secretary’s Choice at Bluffs Run, the stakes will be renamed the Boeckenstedt Choice.

On the other hand, the way the kennel’s greyhounds are running, it is like the kennel owns the stakes. All four greyhounds that is perfect after the two rounds and two of the three greyhounds who are next run for Boeckenstedt. In all, nine of the top 13 greyhounds on the qualifying point sheet are in the Boeckenstedt Kennel.

The pre-stakes favorite, Boc’s Hank Jr, rallied in the homestretch for a two-length win in the second race on Saturday, May 9, to become one of the four co-leaders with 30 points. Overall Hank Jr is 17-11-1-4.

Two greyhounds are unbeaten after the first two rounds of the $65,000 West Virginia Greyhound Owners and Breeders Association Middle Distance Championship at Wheeling Island.

Now that the NGA Fall Meet (Oct. 12-17) has concluded, Abilene would like nothing better than a couple of days of rain.

For the first time for as long as anyone can remember, the NGA Fall Meet and its prelude week of pre-stake schooling enjoyed virtually perfect weather. There was no rain (nor snow!), no heavy winds, and no extreme temperatures.

In other words, the Fall Meet weather was absolutely ideal. Which is highly unusual. In fact, Abilenites are familiar with the legend that the NGA national meets are a sure sign that rain will inevitably fall.

A victory by a recent stakes champion highlighted the first round of the Iowa Breeders Cup’s at the Iowa Greyhound Park on Saturday, Oct. 3.

Wild Bill Reeves (Copper Kettle), who took the $30,000 Dubuque Classic Stakes, wrapped up the IBC’s first round with a five-length decision. The 74 pounder, born May 18, 2013 out of FlyingCoalCity – Kind Kelsey, moved to 22-10-1-5 on the campaign with the win.

Hilco Supersonic (Superior), fresh off a runner-up finish in the $30,000 Future Star Stakes, won the opening race in the first round. The 62-pounder, born Oct. 7, 2013 out of Kc And All – Hilco V Star, went box-to-wire out of the five box to win by two and a half lengths. She had the first round’s best time of 30.68 seconds for the 5-16 mile course. Supersonic moved to 21-8-4-3.

The second round of the $30,000 Future Star Stakes at the Iowa Greyhound Park, held Wednesday, Sept. 16, produced a pair of co-leaders who earned the maximum of 40 points apiece by winning in each of the first two rounds.

BCS Old Glory (Boeckenstedt) put together a box-to-wire run from the five box to win by five lengths. The 61-pounder, born Oct. 5, 2013 out of Surf Lorian-Boc’s Hobnob went box-to-wire in the first round to win by eight lengths. She will take a 24-11-2-5 record into the third round.

The other co-leader is O Ya Katt Daddy (Superior). After a come-from-behind win by a neck in the first round, the 76-pounder, born Sept. 16, 2013 out of Djays Octane – O Ya Cranberry, celebrated his birthday with a solid four-length victory. He will take a 23-8-5-5 record into the third round.

Maybe the first greyhound to win two stakes championships at Bluffs Run in 2015 will be the track’s Greyhound of the Year. That was the path took last year when Boc’s John Luke earned Greyhound of the Year laurels.

Now Boc’s Sailfish might be making his bid for the yearly honor. The Boeckenstedt Kennel entry won the $60,000 Secretary’s Choice stakes in May. On Wednesday, September 9, the 70-pounder, born July 31, 2012 out of Djays Octane – Boc’s Mc Raisen, led the charge in the first round of the $60,000 Finale.

Sailfish, 33-13-7-6, won the seventh races of the nine first-round performances with a box-to-wire run from the one box. His four and a half length margin and time of 30.11 seconds for the 5-16 mile course were both bests for the first round.

Chalk held in the semifinals of the $60,000 Juvenile Stakes Saturday, June 27, at Bluffs Run. The greyhounds that filled the top eight slots in the points standings after the quarterfinals stayed right there following the semifinals to advance to the Saturday, July 4, championship race.

At the lower end of the eight Blink It (Black), 16-5-2-1, and Sweet Cheeses (Filipelli/Miner), 22-6-4-2, struggled to sixth place finishes in their semifinal tests. That left Sweet Cheeses with 38 points and Blink It with 37.