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Watching And Waiting On A Racing Doggie


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I totally put this in the wrong thread on Friday evening :lol

 

 

 

Not a good day for pics, unless you wanted to capture the storm....

But Friday was the next to last day of live racing at Mobile. Jeff and I went out in the afternoon and watched a few races so I could take some pics.

 

This is one of Nancy's Cracker's offspring

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Here's JA's Rain Drop - she won the race... by a bit of a fluke, one of the dogs caught the lure/bag and while Rain Drop checked it out, she decided to take advantage of the excitement to her left.

 

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  • 2 months later...
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In Australia someone put a Go Pro on the lure while schooling dogs. It is an interesting view and you can really see how much they lean in on the turns. If you watch the last race you will see one of the dogs is a fighter.

 

 

I wouldn't want to watch a live race with this view, but I wouldn't mind seeing a replay from this view.

Edited by dmdsmoxie
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Very cool! It would be awesome to see a race this way but like you I wouldn’t want to watch them like this all the time.

Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel

Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee

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Very interesting...amazingly fast legs

Jan with precious pups Emmy (Stormin J Flag) and Simon (Nitro Si) and Abbey Field.  Missing my angels: Bailey Buffetbobleclair 11/11/98-17/12/09; Ben Task Rapid Wave 5/5/02-2/11/15; Brooke Glo's Destroyer 7/09/06-21/06/16 and Katie Crazykatiebug 12/11/06 -21/08/21. My blog about grief The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not get over the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same, nor would you want to. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

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  • 7 months later...
:lol "They all be tired but I am not!" Great one, Dick.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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:lol "They all be tired but I am not!" Great one, Dick.

 

I was thinking along those same lines. Something like, why are you slowing down, lets go around again.

 

The thing about closers, even if they are 4th or 5th, is they have to be smart. If you watch the race again you will Sherbini passing dogs on the rail, but then there are other dogs on the rail and she jumps to the outside to pass the remaining dogs.

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That was an awesome race! That is one smart greyhound! Thanks Dick, you know how I love a good closer!

Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel

Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee

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That was incredible, especially how he weaved in and out of the pack. Incredible.

Old Dogs are the Best Dogs. :heartThank you, campers. Current enrollees:  Punkin. AnnIE Oooh M

Angels: Pal :heart. Segugio. Sorella (TPGIT). LadyBug. Zeke-aroni. MiMi Sizzle Pants. Gracie. Seamie :heart:brokenheart. (Foster)Sweet. Andy. PaddyALVIN!Mayhem. Bosco. Bruno. Dottie B. Trevor Double-Heart. Bea. Cletus, KLTO. Aiden 1-4.

:paw Upon reflection, our lives are often referenced in parts defined by the all-too-short lives of our dogs.

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The thing about closers, even if they are 4th or 5th, is they have to be smart.

 

 

"I don't need no stinkin' jockey." :lol

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Ellen, with brindle Milo and the blonde ballerina, Gelsey

remembering Eve, Baz, Scout, Romie, Nutmeg, and Jeter

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  • 1 year later...

No one writes about greyhounds better than Dennis McKeon and this was his eloquent article about the great Downing. Downing is in the pedigree of many of your dogs.

"Don Cuddy always said that Downing was the fastest 550 yard dog he ever saw, and he saw a lot of them. There were a select group of greyhounds of whom he always spoke reverentially....Downing was one of them. Downing was called "Handyman" because he was always by Jim Frey's side as a youngster--always "handy".

As a racer, he was intolerant of other greyhounds, except for Chito, who, for some reason, he liked. Chito himself was a good grade A at Revere at the time. And he was Downing's turnout partner during the time Downing campaigned in New England.

I remember one day after the morning's festivities were nearly over, there was a telephone call to the kennel. I could hear Don's voice faintly from the kitchen....."....oh Jay-sus.....when did it happen?"....I heard some homilies and some condolences, he said goodbye and hung up.

".......well, he's gone". I could see in his eyes that Don himself was now somewhere else, in his own mind.....watching a long red brindle blur accelerate into the first turn as if he alone were not subject to the burdens of gravity, and unfazed by the shackles of his own flesh...Downing's only real competition, if the truth be known, was his own mortality.

These are my personal recollections of Downing's Amercian Derby win.....

And guys...I remember Downing's American Derby .....he was a prohibitive favorite....after making the switch to the other side, he had literally run away and hid from the best dogs that the country's elite kennels might offer up as competition---or as sacrifice----it hadn't really mattered..........

He was a sharp breaker, and an astonishing turn runner-----and though nearly 80 lbs, and as long as the Kansas horizon is wide----he could literally run "under the rails"....and accelerate into, through and off the turns----and if, by some stroke of serendipity, you found yourself ahead of him, on the rail and in his way----he would put you over the rail to take his line.

So the ONLY way he could lose, was if he broke down, or if he missed his break.....and you know what?...... he missed his break----missed it by a mile....and he came out with his nose in the dirt, stumbling---nearly falling----and the entire field easily out-trapped the fast-trapper.

There was a collective gasp from the incredulous crowd. Luckily, the 2 lane had not quite closed up on him.

Gifted athlete that he was---in the blink of an eye---he somehow, miraculously, managed to right himself----and exploded through the hole which had remained open to him.

He had seized the lead before they even hit the turn, and drew off to a commanding advantage as he poured it on---like a soundwave.... through the stretch, around the curtain turn, and past the toteboard-----his speed was enthralling, unlike anything I had ever witnessed----it thumped right through your chest, and took your breath away... like the music of a runaway locmotive......yet due to his early miscalculations and exertions, he was pretty much spent at the top of the lane....all alone.......and all done.....

He had lost his action, and his stride was shortening with each diminutive leap forward...and at precisely that most desperate of moments----that sobering, split-second before the shattering of every illusion---- the great stayer---Malka---had begun to uncork her prodigious run.....which was as deep as the Pacific...and at once, as powerful and unfathomable.

The insurmountable lead was shrinking fast now, to about 6 lengths entering the final straight---- and Malka appeared to have caught the jetstream itself, as she zeroed in on him----with Downing laboring mightily, just to keep a straight line----the deafening roar of the 12,000 or so spectators, who had come to see a legend ...in his own and their own time... lent an air of unreality to the whole, desperate spectacle...

And time itself had become glacial, as it passed...as they played out that age-old struggle.....and... with the one, impossible, outrageous, colossal surge ---Downing lunged for the wire....the ghosts of Real Huntsman, Oklahoman and On the Line were awakened from their eternal reveries by the sheer genius of it.....to rightly bear witness to this galvanizing moment, for once and for all time ... as Malka, a burgeoning, bursting tidal wave now ----bore down on him, cresting, from mid-track to his flank.... closer and closer she rolled.....

That he managed, somehow, to hold on---by a dissipating 3/4 of a length or so---was the true measure of his faultless courage and his supernatural greatness....Malka was past him a couple of jumps after the wire, and clear by 3 as they ran up to the curtain.

It was the only moment in his life---the very instant when he had actually grasped his immortality----- that he had ever appeared to be mortal ."

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I saw all of Downing's races at Wonderland and there were always stories that many times Downing has dirt and grease on his left-side from rubbing the rail in the turns. One day I asked Dennis if this was true.  Dennis told me that the stories were true and that Downing never chased the lure  He chases the wheel on the rail not the pole or the lure.

There was a hot shot dog at Black Hills SD named GP's Sara.  She was queen of that track winning all kind of stake races there. Black Hills wasn't a very good track, but for some reason the owner of Sara decided to challenge Downing to a match race. Challenge accepted and Downing was off to a track he had never put a paw on. Downing destroyed Sara winning by 11 lengths, setting the track record and leaving.

Since BH's only ran a few more years and no one ever beat Downing's TR, Downing will hold the TR forever.

Malka was the best closer I ever saw live.  She was the little girl that could.

She had no early speed and often times she was a few lengths behind the 7th place dog at they hit the wire the first time. If she was going to fire it was always on the backstretch somewhere around the tote. If you didn't bet her the words you didn't want to hear was "there goes Malka."  If you did bet her you was watching her at the back of the pack and might have been the person that said "there goes Malka." Once she fired it was one furious run from the tote to the wire and beyond. She was like a runaway train except she was going inside and outside of dogs and if there was a hole between two dogs she would split them.  She was fearless.  The only thing in question once she fired was whether she would catch the leaders before or after the wire.

There have been a lot of great closers over the years, but Malka could and would do it on the grandest stages of all. She could do it in stake races and who was in front of her didn't matter.

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8 minutes ago, Remolacha said:

I think closers are the most exciting racers to watch. When the afterburners kick in, it is just amazing!

I agree and they are what make you stand up and cheer. To me they are also highly intelligent because whatever line they would prefer to run they can't. There are always dogs in front of them and they have to decide on the fly whether to go inside, outside or between other dogs.

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  • 4 weeks later...

As many of you know Dennis' screen name is Rockingship. Dennis' mentor had Rocking Ship* in his kennel and he was one of the best dogs to ever step foot on a track.  He was so good that he almost beat Downing out for "Dog of the Decade".

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Rocking Ship* had one strange quirk and that was he would lay down waiting for post time.

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  • 5 months later...

Wow, pretty amazing racer.

Jan with precious pups Emmy (Stormin J Flag) and Simon (Nitro Si) and Abbey Field.  Missing my angels: Bailey Buffetbobleclair 11/11/98-17/12/09; Ben Task Rapid Wave 5/5/02-2/11/15; Brooke Glo's Destroyer 7/09/06-21/06/16 and Katie Crazykatiebug 12/11/06 -21/08/21. My blog about grief The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not get over the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same, nor would you want to. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

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If you watch the race closely you will notice near the finish line after the break Chill has a problem with the 3 and gets knocked back.  Then as they enter the backstretch he jumps out and goes around the 3 and one other dog.

As far as having an extra gear, that is what most dogmen and women and gamblers call it.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/7/2020 at 12:55 PM, dmdsmoxie said:

Chillaxification is probably one of the top two or three dogs in the country.

If you like a closer he is the dog to watch. He is never out of it even when he looks like he is and this is the way he runs most of his races.. He is in the 1 box

http://www.trackinfo.com/video-box.jsp?raceid=gSL%2420200306T02

I cannot believe this thread I started 11 YEARS ago is still going! How about that? I said I would never pre-adopt a greyhound again, but, it seems as though I have, indeed, done just that. 
I wanted a Southland dog.  Flupascrackerbox was the king of Southalnd and likely still is.  I asked a friend who works there if she would be around when I came to pick up my new dog.
She would said she would (as it turns out, she won't) and oh, by the way, we have this dog....Lol!  My boy is older, but still good and races again Chillaxification when he has the misfortune to draw in against him! 

Awesome hound! Dick....thank you for carrying on here. I rarely even come to Greytalk anymore, but I have to believe this thread can still do some good. Especially now. 

Edited by gazehund
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  • 5 months later...

My sweet DoBee, one of the original Watching and Racing greyhounds passed away today at the age of 12 1/2.  We spent so much time here watching him race weekly.  He was an amazing racer for such a little guy but was full of heart for the sport.  I will miss him forever.

Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel

Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee

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