Roper Report

The Forest Laws

jcsperson@yahoo.com (Martin Roper) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:55:00 +0000

As many Greyhound enthusiasts know, the Forest Laws came into being in England during the reign of the Danish King Canute (1016-1035). They prevented any "meane person" from hunting with Greyhounds. This was an era when the King exercised absolute power over his subjects and the chasm between the aristocracy and commoners was immense. The Forest Laws were a symbol of the state's power over the individual.

From the beginning, the laws were broken and the King's resources could not keep up with those who would poach wildlife from his land. To supplement their income, underpaid local officials accepted bribes to ignore local coursing. Commoners took every precaution possible to evade detection. They culled white puppies, preferring the natural camouflage of black or brindled dogs. By contrast, the nobility preferred white dogs, for not only did they symbolize purity and cleanliness, they had the practical advantage of being more easily seen from horseback during the hunt.

The Forest Laws were also compromised by the nobility themselves. Rather than transport Greyhounds great distances, noblemen prepositioned kennels of dogs with commoners who lived near a forest and granted them hunting privileges in return for caring for the dogs. Greyhounds were cherished gifts and were often given by the King for military service or other favors. Members of the clergy, often related by blood or politics to the aristocracy, kept Greyhounds. The famous line from the Monk's Tale in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales illustrates just one instance:

"Grehoundes he hadde, as swift as fowel in flight,
Of prikyng and of huntyng for the hare
Was all his lust, for no cost wolde he spare."

- The General Prologue

Complicating the problem was that there weren't enough Greyhounds to satisfy the demand for them. Few noblemen were involved in the breeding of dogs and it was against the law for commoners to do so! Dogs were often imported from Ireland which could scarcely meet the demand.

After the Bubonic Plague of 1347, it appeared as if the Forest Laws would be no more. The Black Death decimated Europe's population, killing both nobleman and commoner alike, and caused the greatest social upheaval in European history. With one-third of the population wiped out, labor became scarce and wages increased which brought greater freedom to the peasantry. In England, the courts were in disarray which allowed Greyhound owners to avoid the law almost openly.

By the time of Richard II (1377-1400), however, the plague had been gone for more than 50 years and the courts had been fully restored. The feudal world of Canute and his immediate successors had long since ceased to exist. Accordingly, the law changed to reflect the new economic reality. Anyone who did not own land capable of generating £10 annually could not own a Greyhound. Through vigorous enforcement, the new law achieved its desired effect in all but the most remote areas.

During the late Middle Ages, the story of the Greyhound parallels that of the nobility that kept them. From Runnymede to the deposition of Richard II, English history was the story of the expansion of power and influence of the landed aristocracy at the expense of the Crown. They had slain or deposed two kings, and Parliament was able to exert a measure of control over the nation's purse-strings. The Judiciary, which was made up of their own class, wielded the law as much for themselves as it did for the Crown. With vast estates, great wealth, and leisure time, the landed gentry often filled their hours in field sports including Greyhound coursing and falconry. For them, the Forest Laws died with the end of the Middle Ages. From the 15th century on, the restrictions on coursing applied less and less to the landed gentry, though commoners were still subject to the laws.

Upon Henry Tudor’s defeat of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, the House of Tudor ruled England into the first years of the 17th century. In his tenure on the English throne, the pendulum had begun to swing the other way. England's political fragility of the fifteenth century was replaced by Henry VII’s foresight and pragmatism and the Crown strengthened its position in relation to the gentry. He summoned Parliament as rarely as possible and consolidated the power of the Crown. Though nearly ruined by Henry VIII's free-spending policies, the Tudors maintained a level of authority not seen since Medieval times. They wielded great political power, but their control over the judiciary was still tenuous. Judges in local courts served at the pleasure of the Crown, but they often acted autonomously and protected their own interests.

During her reign, Elizabeth I participated in field sports and it is believed that the formal rules of coursing, based on those of Arrian from the second century, were set down by the Duke of Norfolk at her request. His rules do not appear to have been published during her reign, however, and though they were unchanged in their essentials, continued to be revised and refined right up through the nineteenth century.

Elizabeth did not, as is often seen in print, repeal the Forest Laws. Indeed, her successors took steps for more than a century after her death to continue the policy of preventing commoners from taking game with dogs. Under James I (1603-1625), no one could keep a coursing dog unless he owned land with the rental value of £10 per year, was a Baron of Parliament, a man of "high degree," or a son or heir of an Esquire. The Church was enlisted to help enforce the law—any Greyhounds discovered by church officials entitled them to the entire fine of 40 shillings per offence.

When James died in 1625, his son Charles I (1625-1649) showed no interest in coursing—he preferred Beagles. Under Charles, however, a new law was enacted that permitted ownership of Greyhounds by those whose land was valued at £10 per year or who had a 99-year lease on land of the same value. During the reign of William III (1689-1702), the law was amended to provide for whippings or confinement at hard labor as punishment for illegal possession of Greyhounds. During the reign of Queen Anne (1702-1714), trade in Greyhounds was rampant, and with enforcement still not wholly successful, a law was enacted that innkeepers, alehouse keepers and victuallers could not house dealers of Greyhounds. The fine for doing so was £5. Informers could receive £2, 10s of the fine. To further encourage commoners to report those trading in Greyhounds, the courts were authorized to give the remaining half of the fine to the poor of the parish. An innkeeper unable to pay the fine could be sentenced to three months in jail, four for a second offense.

In time, protests against the laws began to appear in the press. The lack of coursing was causing farmers to be overrun with hares, but because they belonged to the gentry, tenant farmers weren't allowed to kill them. Finally, in 1831, the Game Act removed all qualifications for coursing with Greyhounds based on estate or social standing. A series of poaching prevention acts limited the liability of the hunter from theft of property to merely trespassing.

By the end of the eighteenth century, a coursing craze gripped England that forever changed the breed. Wealthy enthusiasts formed coursing clubs, started breeding programs, bred only the best examples of the breed based on results of coursing meets, and began to maintain pedigree records. In 1845, Waterloo Cup winner King Cob was the first dog offered at public stud and other champion sires soon became available. Any owner of a female Greyhound had access to the best bloodlines of the day and the new railroad lines allowed ready shipment of females to the very best sires from any point in England. In a very short time, strains of the breed whose traits served them well on the coursing fields of England were retained and improved. Those that did not passed into history.

The Forest Laws and their descendants had become increasingly difficult to enforce and the Game Act, after more than 700 years, put an end to them, not by making Greyhounds legal, but by making hares part of the land they were on, not the property of the King or the aristocracy. It could be said that the Forest Laws ended with a whimper, not a bang. Though laws remained on the books well into the eighteenth century, the will to enforce them was simply not there. By then, Greyhounds were in so many hands that efforts to control them were fruitless. In the end, the Forest Laws were a measure of how much society had changed since feudal kings ruled a millennium ago. In some ways, however, it seems we are headed back in the same direction today.

Kiowa Sweet Trey

jcsperson@yahoo.com (Martin Roper) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:58:00 +0000

7 Jan 2000 - 15 July 2009

All-American, Rural Rube award winner, and two-time number one sire Kiowa Sweet Trey passed away recently of a liver ailment. His achievements as a sire far outstripped his outstanding accomplishments on the track and it is already clear that his influence will be profound in coming generations of Greyhounds.

His sire, Oswald Cobblepot, won the 1996 Colorado Classic, the JW Rocket One Memorial, and ran second in the Cloverleaf Classic by a nose. He was 10th in the 1999 Sire Standings, 7th in 2000, 4th in 2001 and 2nd to half-brother Molotov in 2002. He left behind a record nine All-Americans; Kiowa Sweet Trey, Kiowa Sweet Joe, Bart’s E Mail, EA’s Itzaboy (three times), Burt Road, Coldwater Konow and Greys Outbound.

TM's Sweet Dream is one of only five dams in history to produce more than one All American. She was seventh in the 2002 Dam Standings. In addition to Kiowa Sweet Trey, her litter by Oswald Cobblepot included Kiowa Sweet Joe, a 2002 All-America team member. He won the 2002 American Derby at Lincoln and the 2002 St. Pete Derby at Derby Lane. Kiowa Sweet Ty made the final of the 2002 Hollywoodian and Kiowa Sweet Babe made the final of the 2002 Palm Beach Futurity. TM's Sweet Dream's grand-offspring already include 2005 Tampa Juvenile winner WW Gale Donner, Wheeling 47-race winner Kay V Arrington, and Orange Park star Kiowa Spock.

Kiowa Sweet Trey was bred and raised by Kay Smith in Oklahoma. He won the January Main Stake at the 2001 NGA Spring Meet. Afterwards Vince Berland purchased a half-interest in him. He opened his official racing career in spectacular fashion winning 12-straight at Wheeling, the country's most competitive track. He won two strong Hot Box events at Wheeling in October and December, and then broke in the new year in style winning the 2002 Derby Lane Inaugural en route to a 10-race win streak that included the Derby Lane Kennel Preview. He swept the first four rounds of the 2002 Derby Lane Sprint Classic, but couldn't hold in the stretch and slipped to third in the final behind Dodgem By Design and Talentedmrripley. In February of 2002 he trekked to Hollywood for the World Classic. He won three of four qualifying rounds, but had to settle for second, a length-and-a-half behind kennel-mate Flying Earnhardt.

In a brief career of 41 races, Kiowa Sweet Trey was 31-4-2-1 racing exclusively against the likes of Talentedmrripley, Courageous Nicky, Dodgem By Design, Iruska All Star, Fortified Rush, Luckydeals Honor, Fuzzys Geronimo, Ezra Clem, Get Over, Gene's Champion, and WW Greys Drifter. He was named to the 2001 All-America team and was the Rural Rube award winner in 2002. In what many saw as a curious omission, he did not receive All-America honors in 2002.

Kiowa Sweet Trey's career in the stud barn was even more successful than the one on the track. His first litters were whelped in November of 2001 before he was two years of age. He first appeared in the Sire Standings ranked 21st in 2004, and then second in 2005 and 2006 before wresting the title from Gable Dodge in 2007 and 2008. His offspring read like a Who's Who of American racing. He is the sire of seven All-Americans; Igoby Brady, Kiowa Delicate, Flyin Bridgeport, Flying Stanley, Kiowa Wish Frank, Flying Mancini and Starz Jenko. In addition, Flying Stanley and Starz Jenko won Rural Rube awards, and Flyin Bridgeport won the Flashy Sir award. With a considerable stockpile of frozen semen still available, those numbers could go higher.

Kiowa Sweet Trey superstars would be too hard to list. In addition to the award winners above, a brief roll call would comprise 2008 Irish Cesarewitch winner Lenson Joker, two-time Coral Essex Vase winner Eye Onthe Veto, 2009 Jacksonville Sprint Classic winner Count Ivan, 2005 Wheeling WVGOBA Sprint winner Iruska Creme Pie, 102-race winner Dauntless, 2008 Wheeling Winner's Challenge champ BD's Flip, 2008 WVGOBA Distance Stake winner Wuzinyurwallet, 2008 Bluffs Run Spring Futurity winner Slatex Deal, Wichita track record holder Flying Hydrogen, and many, many others.

The final chapters of the Kiowa Sweet Trey story are yet to be written. It is certain that he will be a fixture in pedigrees the world over in both the near term and over the generations. He is already an established damsire—his daughter Flying Sweet Amy, from his very first litter, produced 2006 Tampa Derby winner Turbo Penske. Other daughters have produced the likes of 2009 Hollywoodian champ Deerfield Peter, 2009 Derby Lane Sprint Classic winner Flyin Home Depot, 2009 Naples Distance Classic winner Kiowa Knockout, and Wheeling Invitational winner Kiowa WW Brother.

His sons have also gotten off to a good start at stud. Flying Hydrogen is the sire of Flying MacBeth, winner of the Derby Lane Fall Sprint, and Flying Larussa, winner of the 2007 Derby Lane Million Consolation. The list will surely grow as the offspring of sons Flying Stanley, Igoby Brady, Dauntless, Starz Jenko, Trey United*, and others reach track age.

Good night, sweet prince.

Movies Featuring Greyhounds

jcsperson@yahoo.com (Martin Roper) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:36:00 +0000

While searching for something else on a Greyhound message board recently, I came across an old thread about movies that have Greyhounds in them. In one I posted a few brief reviews of movies that I've revised and preserved here.

Sorceress

Released: 1987 (French with English Subtitles)
Starring: Christine Boisson, Tchéky Karyo
Director: Suzanne Schiffman

Originally released in France as Le Moine et la sorcière (The Monk and the Witch), Sorceress chronicles the medieval legend of a greyhound that killed a large snake which was attacking a baby. In the process of killing the snake, the greyhound knocks over the baby's cradle and the child is covered by the cradle and his bedding. Upon returning home, the knight finds the baby's nursery in shambles, the cradle overturned and the child apparently gone, and seeing blood on the greyhound's jaws, comes to the conclusion that the dog has killed the child. After killing the greyhound in a rage, he hears the baby's cry and finds him safe under his bedding beside the dead snake. Realizing his tragic error, the knight has the greyhound canonized as a saint contrary to the laws of the Church. Saint Guinefort, as she is known by the locals, is revered as a protector of children for centuries afterward.

Everything is fine until Etienne de Bourbon, an Inquisitor, comes to the village to investigate this heresy. There, he discovers Elda, a local healer and mystic. His authority and theology comes into direct conflict with her own practical faith and devotion to healing. As the story unfolds, it is clear that de Bourbon is having difficulty resolving his own doubts as his beliefs are tested by Elda and the villagers. More subtly portrayed is his willful suppression of his physical attraction to her beauty.

This is a fine movie that suffers little from the sub-titles. The French dialogue gives it a level of authenticity that might be lost in the dubbed English version. Christine Boisson is bewitching as Elda, the sorceress, and Tchéky Karyo is convincing as the Inquisitor. The pace of this movie might be too deliberate and its tone too philosophical for some, but it is historically accurate and a stunning piece of filmwork. Highly recommended.

Evelyn

Released: 2002 (U.S.)
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Vavasseur, Julianna Margulies, Aidan Quinn
Directors: Bruce Beresford, Jerry Hogrewe

The movie is very loosely based on an actual 1955 court case where a father challenged Irish law in the Supreme Court to regain custody of his kids. Pierce Brosnan, who co-produced the film, portrays Desmond Doyle, a man who must overcome a reputation as a hard-drinking and often temperamental tradesman with a lackadaisical attitude to fatherhood before his wife abandons him and their children. After his daughter is packed off to a Catholic orphanage, he has to fight two battles, one to gain custody of her, and another to reform himself.

Often short of work, one obstacle Doyle must surmount is raising funds for legal fees. A kindly, but obviously unscrupulous track official gives him a hot tip to bet on a greyhound named Slippery Sam, a long-shot. Unbeknownst to Doyle, he feeds sausages to all the other dogs except Sam to influence the outcome of the race. The racing scene is fairly brief and shown at various angles, occasionally out-of-focus and partly in slow motion, not to depict the precise events of the race, but to try to capture the emotions of the race from the perspective of the crowd.

Overall, this is a pretty good movie and gives one a good feel for Ireland in the 1950s. Despite the serious nature of the subject, there were some humorous moments as well. Brosnan was believable as a gritty Irish working man and father. The remaining cast was very strong—the child actors were especially competent. As a greyhound racing fan and a former Rugby player, I appreciated the attention to detail in depicting these two sports on film. Recommended.

Are Greyhounds really mentioned in the Bible?

jcsperson@yahoo.com (Martin Roper) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:57:00 +0000

In February of 2008, I posted the article, "Everything You Know Is Wrong," which supports the idea that the Greyhound breed is of Celtic and therefore European origin, not Egyptian or Middle-Eastern as is widely believed. The article has made the rounds on a number of Greyhound web sites, and invariably there is a response to the effect that since Greyhounds are mentioned in the Bible, they have to be of Middle-Eastern origin.

Are Greyhounds really mentioned in the Bible? Technically, the answer is yes. The King James version of the Bible, published in 1611, makes mention of the breed in Proverbs 30:31. The problem is that the King James Bible is the first to do so. James I directed that the Bible be retranslated to represent the beliefs of the Anglican Church. The Old Testament was translated from the original Hebrew, and the New Testament largely from Greek. In Hebrew, the passage in Proverbs reads differently than the King James version:

If the text stands, there appears to be no better rendering than "girt in the loins," which might fairly be taken to refer to a war horse or to a greyhound. The Persian greyhound would in that case be understood, a hairy race, which, according to the Royal Natural History, is less fleet than the English breed and is used in chasing gazelles and in hunting the wild ass, and which according to Doughty (Arabia Deseria) is kept by the Bedouin. "These dogs are said to be sometimes girdled by their owners to prevent them from over-eating and becoming fat" (L. Fletcher, British Museum (Natural History).

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Persian Greyhound is the obsolete Western name for a Saluki. Since the word Saluki would have been completely unknown to 17th century English readers, the common word "Greyhound" was substituted. Contemporary references to Eastern or Egyptian "Greyhounds" would have to be Salukis, Sloughis or other related sighthounds, not the Celtic dog we call the Greyhound today. The word "Saluki" did not come into common use in the West until the 1920s and was recognized as such by the British Kennel Club in 1923.

Though superficially similar, Salukis and Afghans do not really look like Greyhounds. Their overall conformations and running aptitudes are different. Greyhounds are sprinters and Salukis and Afghans are more suited for endurance. The shape of the head and the ears, especially, are clearly of different types. The dogs pictured in Egyptian murals were unlike the modern Greyhound. The Egyptians had two sighthound breeds, the predecessor of the modern day Saluki, and an extinct breed, the Tesem. The former are depicted as having lop ears and a feathered tail, just as Salukis have today, while images of the Tesem have prick ears and a curled tail. Skeletal remains of Salukis have been unearthed in Iraq that date from 4400-3800 B.C. which make a strong case for it to be considered the oldest extant dog breed. Skeletal remains of dogs with characteristics of Tesems have also been found from the period 3750-3400 B.C., but in Mesopotamia, which suggests they were imported into Egypt from the East. The rose ear, which is typical of Greyhound-type dogs was not depicted in Egyptian art.

The dogs of Celtic origin, the Greyhound, Irish Wolfhound, Scottish Deerhound, Galgo and Whippet, all have the rose ear and a similar shape of the head. These and the Gaelic Vertragus, their forebear, can be found in the footprint of Celtic culture as indicated in a map of the era (http://www.fflint.co.uk/celts.html). Other descendants like the Hungarian Greyhound and the extinct Frisian Greyhound also fit the footprint. The last example of the Frisian Greyhound, native to modern-day Holland, passed on prior to WWII. Images of rose-eared dogs exist from the pre-contact period, before literate societies like Rome and Greece encountered the Celts. An Iron Age icon dates from 500 B.C. (http://www.fernhill.com/imagesclip_image004_0000.jpg) Modern DNA analysis, as shown in the February 2008 article, verifies that the breeds are genetically distinct.

Proverbs dates from approximately 650 B.C., well prior to Celtic contact with Mediterranean cultures. The Saluki would have been the predominant coursing breed of that era and familiar to all who lived in the Middle East. If the Hebrew reference is indeed to a dog, and not a warhorse (or even a rooster as some have speculated), then it's all but certain that the Saluki is the "Greyhound" mentioned in the Bible.

Analyzing the 2008 Dam Standings

jcsperson@yahoo.com (Martin Roper) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:55:00 +0000

In January of 2008 I examined the final 2007 Dam Standings. More than a year has passed since then and a review of the 2008 Dam Standings is overdue. Again, the performance of the top litters in the country reaffirm the traits that contribute to an outstanding brood prospect: bloodlines, track performance, and the performance of her littermates. As we discovered last year, another important factor is the age of the dam, and the 2008 standings continue to prove that broods perform best from three to seven years of age.

Track performance: One of the top-20 dams was a stake winner—Fuzzys Lear Jet won the 2004 St. Pete Derby Consolation and made the final of the 2003 Tampa Derby. Four more were top-grade winners at Top-Six tracks and two others ran in top grade at Top-Six tracks. Eight ran grade A at Intermediate tracks, seven of which won in top grade. Two were graders, one at Lincoln and one at Orange Park. One was an Open race contestant in Ireland. Two did not race, but were from litters with more than one top-grade winner at a Top-Six track. Overall, 16 of the 20 ran in or won top grade ranging from the better intermediate tracks to racinos and the vast majority were top-grade winners.

Bloodlines: Unlike 2007 when Molotov ruled the roost by a clear margin, the damsires were spread out among 17 different dogs. Fortress* was represented twice, as was Flying Penske, and Flying Bookie was represented by the litter sisters Atascocita Pinto and Atascocita Sally. Overall, 15 of the 115 dams in the Dam Standings are Molotov daughters. Others represented in numbers are Fortress* (9), P's Raising Cain (5), Gable Dodge (5), Greys Statesman (4), Oswald Cobblepot (4), and Oshkosh Slammer (4). The Top-20 dams descended from several classic damlines led by Maythorn Pride (4) and Lear Jet (2). No other damline had more than one.

Age: The Top-20 dams in 2007 averaged 5 years, 7 months of age, while the 2008 group was far younger at 4 years, 9 months of age with the youngest being just 3 years and the oldest only 7 years, 2 months. Five were 3 years of age, six were 4, five were 5, three were 6, and one was 7.

Once again, the results confirm that well-bred females who performed well on the track, or were from good litters, and are in the prime of their lives, produce the best offspring.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

jcsperson@yahoo.com (Martin Roper) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:20:00 +0000

Several years ago I tried to figure out the "real" Sire Standings based on strike rate, the ratio of top-grade wins to pups, rather than simply total numbers. As they stood, the Sire Standings were more about "how many" than about "how good." Simply using the totals in the Sire Standings to calculate strike rates didn't work well. Older studs looked awful because they had a high number of dogs on the books that had already retired. Young, upcoming studs didn't look good, either, because their pups hadn't been racing long enough to rack up a lot of wins.

In order to make things more equitable, I hit upon the idea of using a two-year cohort of dogs that were in the prime of their racing careers and cutting out most of the oldest and a portion of the youngest racers from the total. In the 2008 Sire Standings, for instance, pups registered in 2003 are counted toward the year's total. The bulk of these would be 2002 or even 2001 whelps and only a handful of the 2003 whelps left could still have had starts in 2008, let alone win top grade. Even most 2004 registrants were retired by the beginning of 2008. Similarly, some younger dogs registered late in 2006 would not have had time to amass wins in the full calendar year.

I used to do these by hand with a calculator, but a couple years ago Bob Fine took over for me because he knows his way around a spread sheet and I really don't. For year-end 2008 we used 25% of a dog's 2004 crop, 100% of his 2005s, and 75% of his 2006 pups. If you slide the cohort to the left, it favors younger studs whose totals will shrink. Slide it to the right and it takes larger numbers away from older studs and raises their apparent strike rate. In June the cohort will slide six months to the right, and the year-end 2009 strike rate will be calculated with 25% of 2005s, etc.

   Sire            25%04   100%05    75%06    total     wins    perc
1  Stan's Boy Flyer  105      473      300      878      510    58.1%
2  Lonesome Cry       20      213      617      850      454    53.4%
3  Kiowa Sweet Trey  346    2,219    1,277    3,842    1,770    46.1%
4  Fuzzy's Cannon      7      228      157      392      176    44.9%
5  Dodgem By Design  332    1,536    1,742    3,609    1,525    42.3%
6  WW Time Warp      137      367      171      675      273    40.5%
7  Get Over           11      103      101      215       83    38.7%
8  Gable Dodge       439    1,416      577    2,432      912    37.5%
9  Pacific Mile                 0      230      230       86    37.4%
10 Flying Penske     201    1,694    1,006    2,901    1,053    36.3%
11 Trent Lee           0       90      242      332      106    32.0%
12 Grey's Flamebeau   82      249       46      377      120    31.9%
13 Oshkosh Slammer   314      641      316    1,270      390    30.7%
14 Coldwater Konow    78      150       52      280       85    30.4%
15 Trojan Cruze      117      367      245      729      211    28.9%
16 Jimbo Scotty       51      642      431    1,123      316    28.1%
17 Teamster           29      167      107      304       82    27.0%
18 Elway Drive        28       84       92      205       54    26.4%
19 Cayman Went         2      307       83      391      101    25.8%
20 Craigie Whistler  418      737      477    1,632      404    24.8%
21 Larking About*      7      274      161      441      104    23.6%
22 Rooftop Moby       25      249       31      305       70    23.0%
23 Gable Oscar        88       62       99      249       56    22.5%
24 DK's Prime Time   158      316      416      890      194    21.8%
25 Fortified Power   134      206      151      490      102    20.8%
26 WW Apple Jax       92      316      344      751      154    20.5%
26 Dominator          81      198      101      380       78    20.5%
28 Clappin Thunder    21      158      110      290       58    20.0%
29 Be My Bubba        22       75      127      224       43    19.2%
30 WW Greys Drifter   45      114       53      211       39    18.5%
31 TNT Star Wars     125      352      244      721      126    17.5%
32 State Of The Art   85      276      119      480       82    17.1%
33 Impossible Dream   26      148      283      457       72    15.8%
34 Iruska All Star    57      183      110      350       55    15.7%
35 Aimin By Design    53      206       41      301       41    13.6%
36 Oneco Spirit       53      214       41      308       33    10.7%
37 San Tan Riffraff    7      126       89      222       19     8.6%
38 D's Jakethesnake   40      184       37      261        9     3.5%

Strike Rate is clearly more useful than the Sire Standings, but I think you still have to be careful when using these numbers. Studs with fewer than 300-400 pups racing can have their percentages seriously strengthened by just one outstanding litter or even one great dog. Get Over is an underrated sire, but Take It Over won 31 races in 2008, 37% of Get Over's total.

On the other hand, a dog that I don't think shows as well as he should is Jimbo Scotty. He has been heavily patronized by a number of West Virginia breeders, many of whom have several litters by him. As everyone knows, AA wins at Wheeling and Tri-State are awfully hard to come by and a disproportionate number of his pups run there. Note that he is ninth in the Intermediate Tracks Sire Standings, but sixth in the Top-6 Sire Standings. I wouldn't necessarily discount a dog because his Strike Rate is 10% lower than another dog without doing a little research first. There is still a lot of "hidden" information that affects Strike Rate. Breeders should still consult Winning Lines for accurate race results and Greyhound-data.com for pedigree information.

Don't forget that there are a number of dogs like Flying Hydrogen, Maryville Rumble*, EM's Mac Attack and the like who are producing—they just don't have 200 track-age pups yet. It will be interesting to see where their Strike Rates will land on the 2009 mid-year chart.

Thinking about Pi

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 15:19:00 +0000

Looking at some chart comments recently, I found a dog with a w-i-d-e running style and wondered out loud how many lengths he was giving away to his opponents by racing with his right feet nearly on the grass. A sure sign I had too much time on my hands this morning was the thought that I should try to figure that out.

My last taste of Pi in a formal math class was in 1972, so I needed a little review. The formula for measuring the circumference of a circle is c = 3.1415 x d, where d is the diameter of the circle. Using Lincoln's 110 foot radius as an example, the circle formed by the two turns equals a diameter of 73.3333 yards for a circumference of 230.3765 yards. By adding one yard of radius, and therefore two yards of diameter, we can calculate how many extra yards a dog traverses in a race for every yard it runs from the rail:

1 yard = 236.6595
2 yards = 242.9425
3 yards = 249.2255
4 yards = 255.5085
5 yards = 261.7915
6 yards = 268.0745

In other words, for every yard that a dog runs wide, it has to cover 6.28 more yards than the dog one yard closer to the rail. For 3/8ths races at the same track, a dog negotiates three sets of bends instead of two, so it must cover 9.42 more yards for every yard out from the rail.

1 yard = 6.28 yards
2 yards = 12.56 yards
3 yards = 18.84 yards
4 yards = 25.12 yards
5 yards = 31.40 yards
6 yards = 37.68 yards

Multiply these figures by 1.5 to get the distances for a 3/8ths race.

Of course, these numbers don't take into account the conditions of the track. A dead rail can make a wider route the fastest way around, but imagine the handicap for wide runners where the inside is the place to be.

Lastly, these figures are for Lincoln. Distances at a tight track like Palm Beach will be slightly smaller, and for bigger tracks like Southland, a little higher.

Everything You Know Is Wrong, Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:18:00 +0000

Back in February, I penned an article that called into question the often repeated assertion that Greyhounds were of Middle Eastern or even Egyptian origin. The evidence to support it simply doesn't exist, yet it is a story that has been repeated often enough that it is widely believed.

Another common belief is that key ancestors of the breed descend from a cross to the Bulldog, an experiment conducted by the eccentric Lord Orford in the 1770s. In their article "Bulldog: Legend or Mythology?" Greyhound-data.com contributors James McCormick and Susan Burley point out inconsistencies in the stories told by people associated with Orford, as well as implausible events, such as the great bitch Czarina whelping her first litter at age 13.

By the time John Henry Walsh ("Stonehenge") retells the story in the first edition of The Greyhound in 1853, almost eight decades had passed since Orford's experimental breedings and no one was alive who could corroborate any of it. Greyhound writers ever since, without further research of any kind, have simply repeated the story to the point it has become a part of Greyhound lore.

There is no doubt that Orford and others experimented with Bulldog crosses, but contemporary accounts clearly state that the resulting dogs were hideously slow and useless for coursing. Similar attempts persisted throughout the 19th century and into the 20th. In 1911, for instance, Captain W.C. Ellis crossed Greyhounds with Afghans to similar effect, and unlike Bulldogs who possess no speed whatsoever, the Afghan is a coursing breed. As any Greyhound breeder can attest, it's hard enough to get fast Greyhounds by breeding one great Greyhound family to another. The idea that a superior dog can be improved by a cross to slower breeds appears to be completely illogical.

To make an analogy to Thoroughbreds, the legendary breeder Federico Tesio wrote that if one bred a Thoroughbred to a Standardbred as an outcross, it would take 20 generations to breed the speed back in to make the progeny competitive. Any "gameness" Orford had hoped to gain by crossing to Bulldogs would have been long lost generations later when enough speed had been bred back in to counter that lost in the first generation.

The explanation that Bulldog crosses of the late 1700s are responsible for the introduction of the brindle coat in Greyhounds is also a myth. A number of Renaissance paintings from up to two centuries prior to Orford clearly show Greyhounds with brindled and white and brindled coats. See Wild Boar Hunt, by Frans Snyders (1579-1657), particularly the white & brindle dog in the right foreground; and two paintings by Jan Fyt (1611-1661), Diana with her Hunting Dogs Beside Kill, note the dark brindle & white dog directly in front of her, and Diana's Hunt, the red brindle & white dog at the far right.

The Bulldog story persists despite a complete lack of evidence that any of its issue was ever successful on the coursing field. By the time King Cob became the first Greyhound to stand at public stud in the 1840s, Orford's experiment was already 60 years past. There were no Stud Books and would not be any in England until the 1880s. All pedigrees published before the first English Stud Book were pieced together from a variety of sources, often on the thinnest of evidence.

It is certainly possible that there is some trace of Bulldog blood in contemporary greyhounds, but I consider it highly unlikely and counterintuitive. I think it's time to place the Bulldog story alongside that of Greyhounds hunting with pharoahs as dubious elements of the history of the breed.

Ten Years Ago This Month

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:32:00 +0000

The cover of the October 1998 issue of Greyhound Review featured $100,000 International Race of Champions winner Kiowa Chippewa flanked by owner Kay Smith, trainer Greg Geter, and trainer Adrienne Burkholder. Wigwam Hoss ran a game second and WW Time Traveler settled for third after leading until the stretch.

At Seabrook, Twilite High Spy won the $100,000 Great Greyhound Race ahead of an outstanding field. The Raynham star went undefeated in the qualifying rounds and went on to a seven-length win in the final in a scintillating 29.57. Defending Great Race champ Our Pacer ran second and Jacksonville invader Mega Gordy ran third.

In yet another $100,000 race, EF's Hersyursign was the 17-1 upset winner of the Multnomah Derby. Vals Redhot Leo ran third, a half-length back, while Tempo Rocketfire just held off heavy favorite Kelsos Kingpin for third.

Southland's Razorback Championship was won by Sir Anfernee of the Thorne Kennel. He had a fairly easy time of it finishing four lengths ahead of Jolly Ryan, with Kiowa Day Roth another length back in third.

Pat C Seeker won the Palm Beach Labor Day Puppy Stake in come-from-behind fashion, catching Son Of Gangster in the final stride to win by a nose. FJ Killian Red was another few inches back in third. Race favorite Baci could not overcome early traffic and ran sixth. In other Palm Beach news, the great ML Dusty Trail retired from racing after compiling 83 career wins and All America honors in 1997.

In another exciting race, Victorian Surge won the Tampa Speed Classic by a nose over Greys Firstclass. Auction pup Big Zee rounded out the trifecta.

The $25,000 Dairyland Sprint went to Buzz Slasher. Dot's Rolly was second and Wicked Wink was third. High point finalist Potrs Stone Fort had a troubled trip and ended up last.

In yet another close finish, KW Raptor Red won the $10,000 Raynham Derby just nosing out Billy Sue Canoe at the wire.

There was plenty of other action. At Gulf, Bob's Angelita came from off the pace to defeat Basic Benefit in the final of the Superdog Countdown. Also at Gulf, JNJ Satin Prince won the People's Choice Match Race, ahead of a fine field that included runner-up Basic Benefit, third-place finisher DV's Luke, and Bob's Angelita. At Flagler, 1997 All American Starlight Irene won the Labor Day Championship over Bow Mask and CD's Luann. Apache Camp outduelled Sally Forth to win the $5,000 Texas Bred Puppy Stake at Corpus.

Ten Years Ago This Month

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:06:00 +0000

I Will Make It, racing for the Rick Bartley Kennel, won the $75,000 Southland Derby and was the cover boy for the September 1998 Greyhound Review. He swept all the qualifying rounds and then went box-to-wire in the final followed by Weedeater and Seegold Big Red. The field was a deep one with San Tan Chance, San Tan Whammo, and TB Feature failing to make a run on the leaders.

Granny won the $100,000 Wonderland Derby adding yet another trophy to her impressive collection. She withstood a cyclonic finish from Greys Betsy Ross for the win. Greys Freckles ran a game third.

The $60,000 Kansas Bred Sprint at The Woodlands was won by RD's Good Time reprising his victory of a year before. He passed WW Time Warp in the backstretch and held off Dutch Hennessy to win by 3½ lengths in 30.22. WW Time Warp held for third.

The Flagler International Classic was won by Jenny Lyn Star ahead of Iruska Excalibur and Kiowa Bet Dutch who closed from last. Jenny Lyn Star was from a standout litter that included 1998 All-America Run Vickie Star.

There was also some puppy stake action. In the $10,000 Port City Puppy Classic at Mobile, Task Bold Rule came from off the pace to nip heavy favorite JJ Littlerichard in deep stretch. Vic's T Bird ran third. At Wheeling, B's Morgan Adams won the WVGOBA Juvenile over Mac Barley and My Godfather.

The inimitable Henry Maxim, Jr. penned an outstanding article on the great Velvet Sis, winner of the 1961 American Derby. It's well worth visiting Greyhound-data.com to see some of her accomplishments.

At Jacksonville, Memory Calling won the $25,000 Mayor's Cup for the Patsy Delisle Kennel over a strong field that included KC Ironore, Mega Gordy, SEK Bank Roll, and Memory Calling's brothers Sanafel Sun and Forty Daysandnites. Sanafel Sun and Mega Gordy ran second and third.

At Mile High, 13-1 longshot LR Chaka Zulu outran favorite Pat C O'Dahy and defending champ Beam's Full Moon in the $50,000 Colorado Classic. Baci won the Budweiser Feature at Palm Beach to cap a six-race win streak.

The brother team of RJ's Typhoon and RJ's Whirlwind swept the Iowa Bred Match Race Series. At Dubuque, Typhoon led Whirlwind across the line and in the return match at Bluffs Run they swapped finishing positions.

Slatex Shell won the the Pepsi Challenge Match Race at Gulf over JNJ Satin Prince who had to settle for Place after leading most of the race. Slatex Shell had already ammassed 27 wins and 37 paychecks in 40 starts at just 27 months of age by mid-1998.

Two inductees to the Hall of Fame were announced. Carroll Blair, who with his brother Clinton operated Blair Brothers Kennels for many years, handled such dogs as Flashy Sir, Jeno's Leo Go, Jimmy's Smile, Land and Iowa Park. Also inducted was the great Buzz Off whose influence on the 1990s was profound with offspring like Blendway, Bartie, Bara Buzz, and Buzz Around.

Irish Racing 101

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:18:00 +0000

The recent wave of Irish imports has created a lot of interest in Irish racing in general, and more specifically, how the racing exploits of those imports are comparable to those of our dogs here in the U.S. Many Americans are completely unaware of some of the simplest features of Irish racing. One imported stud was recently advertised as having a tremendous "in-the-money" percentage showing his record from first through fourth, completely oblivious to the fact that Ireland runs 6-dog races and prize money is rarely paid to dogs outside the top three places.

The first thing Americans should be aware of is that the configuration of Irish tracks is different than ours. They are somewhere between the immense tracks with wide sweeping bends as exist in Australia, and our tracks with tightly radiused bends. In 550 yard races, the run to the turn in Ireland is much shorter than ours and favors brilliant early speed. All tracks run an outside lure, and the most common distances are 525, 550, 575, 600, 700 and 750 yards. Most Irish dogs who excel at 525 yards would struggle to make 550 yards here and some of their 550 yard dogs would as well. Dogs that were Derby class at 55o yards yet could still make 575 yards or beyond are the ones most ideally suited for U.S. needs.

There is no such thing as a Maiden race over there. Dogs run "trials" that establish a baseline time for that dog. These are usually solos or two-dog races. They adjust for variance in track conditions (known as "going") to grade the dogs based on time. Some dogs trial so well they're not graded at all---they go straight into Open events. When you read or hear of a dog that "never ran a graded race," it means the dog was too good to race against ordinary dogs from the start. They literally start their careers in Open class, what we would consider Hot Box!

Grades in Ireland range from A1 to A9 for sprints to D1 to D9 for distance. Just as an estimate, grades A1 and A2 are like our grade A or AA, depending on the track. A3 and A4 like our B, A5 and A6 like our C, and A6 through A9 like our D/E. These approximations are very rough. A dog that had a bad trial might be a grade or two higher than its time would seem to indicate. Many A3 stakes are won by dogs of Open class ability.

Open class races are the equivalent of our Hot Box races. Imagine if our racing secretaries held back the hottest dogs at the track for the best-attended performance of the week and you get an idea of what Opens are all about. There is a very wide range in Opens. Many are sponsored by a local business or a bookmaker and there is roughly $1500 to $5000 in added money. A good Open class dog can stay busy week in and week out and it is very well worth the while of the owner to take his major-stake contender to compete in these races.

The news isn't so good for graders. Because of the Kennel Contract system, we are used to our B-C-D-E dogs running every 4-5 days, rain or shine. Graded events in Ireland are much more haphazard. There are far more owners with graded dogs than there are races (most of their tracks are dark 3-4 nights a week), so a grade B or C type dog might get only three or four races a month. The prizes are very poor in the lower grades because all the money goes to the Opens which are what bring in the crowds. Many lower-grade dogs are sold to the UK where they get more use in graded events.

For gamblers and spectators, Open class racing in Ireland today must be similar to what our racing was like in the 1940s and 1950s when the top dogs practically barnstormed across the country looking for big races (there weren't nearly the number of stakes in those days, but far more Hot Box races). Ireland is a very small country. To give a sense of scale, imagine if every one of our tracks was in Florida and there were no kennel contracts. Trainers are not affiliated with a track so they can take their stars to the track that has the hottest and richest Open of the weekend. If their system existed in Florida, tracks would compete to offer the best Opens for their patrons every weekend. Imagine if every top dog in the U.S. went head-to-head every week.

The top stakes in Ireland are called Group 1 events. These are the finals of a very limited number of stakes which have the highest prizes and the deepest fields. The most famous of these is the Irish Derby held at Shelbourne Park. 144 of the fastest sprinters in Ireland compete for the equivalent of $300,000 or more in prizes. There are no "points" as in most U.S. stakes. Dogs have to finish in the top three or better to advance. One bump, one misstep and a top competitor can be knocked out. Derby finalists and consolation participants have outlasted 132 other dogs to get to "Derby Night." It could be argued that we no longer hold Group 1 style events because the World Classic is not what it used to be, and other top stakes like the International Race of Champions and the Grady Memorial Sprint at Wonderland no longer exist. The closest thing we had was the 2006 Derby Lane Million.

Group 2 events are second-tier stakes that are roughly the equivalent of an in-house stake at one of our major tracks, or one with limited outside entries. The Twin River Sprint or Derby Lane Sprint Classic would be the equivalent of most Irish Group 2 races. A Group 3 race would be the equivalent of a limited entry stake here like one restricted to dogs bred in a certain state or a puppy stake, or "Night of Stars" style hot-box events.

When trying to compare the records of Irish dogs to ours, consider that they consistently run against the country’s best, not just grade A’s at their own track. It's interesting to talk to Irishmen who are amazed at the records of some of our top stars. What they don't understand is that our top dogs run a fairly high percentage of their races these days against ordinary grade A competition. Most of the top stars in Ireland race exclusively against Open and Stakes grade opposition.

When looking at the races of an import sire consider his level of opposition. Did he win or make the final of Group 1 events or advance to the later rounds of the Irish Derby? Did he defeat other Group 1 class dogs, especially those currently at stud in Ireland? Did he run a significant number of graded events, especially after his first few races, or did he run exclusively in top Opens and Stakes? Did he run hurdles where he could rack up a large number of wins against second-rate competition?

There was a day when Ireland's second-tier dogs were passed off here as "champions." Just look through old sire issues of Greyhound Review and you'll see that dozens of these were inflicted on us, many simply because they were bred similarly to another import that had better racing credentials, or even one that was already proven here. Today we have accurate race records and even video of most of the dogs that are imported to the U.S. It's possible to separate the Derby class dogs from those who were merely minor Open class. Take a little time to compare the merits of the sires you are considering for your domestic female. It will be time well spent.

Ten Years Ago This Month

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:48:00 +0000

The cover of the August 1998 issue of The Greyhound Review featured a gorgeous shot of Jimbo’s Chelsie from the infield of Derby Lane where she had won the 1998 St. Pete Derby. The sister of stakes stars Jimbo Okie and Jimbo Scotty, she was a star in her own right. In addition to her win in the Derby, she also was runner-up to Bomb Threat as the track’s win leader.

At Dairyland, Reko Swahili won the Eighth Anniversary Stake ahead of CM Speedster and Kiowa Bel Geter. Dot’s Elwood won the Dairyland All-Star Challenge over Big Run Gizmo and RL Annett.

Twenty-three month-old System Blackdog captured the 21st running of the $60,000 Murray Kemp Classic at Multnomah. The youngster went box-to-wire ahead of AB Fab and his littermate Black Baby. System Blackdog went on to represent Multnomah in the Greyhound Race of Champions at Wichita where he won a qualifying round against the likes of Wigwam Hoss, Seegold Big Red, Kola Kora and Beam’s Full Moon and made the final.

Mega Goosebumps won the Duval Silver Cup at Jacksonville as the odds-on favorite. Unfortunately, she was injured shortly afterwards at Raynham in a schooling race in preparation for the Joseph Carney Memorial Triathalon. Her second career as a brood was even more successful than her first at the track. Her son Hallo West Acre won the 2005 Hollywood World Classic, ran second in 2004, and made the final at 4-½ years of age in 2006.

Overseas, Toms The Best won the 1998 English Derby at Wimbledon in dominating fashion. He won four of the five preliminary rounds and went off as the 4-5 favorite. A late-speed dog, he was second to the first bend and everyone in the stadium knew that the result was a forgone conclusion. He caught the lead dog by the end of the backstretch and romped home to a 4-½ length victory that returned the equivalent of $80,000 to his owner Eddie Shotton. He was bred by top English breeder Ian Greeves. Toms The best also won the 1998 Irish Derby and ran second by a length in the Scottish Derby, the closest any dog has ever come to winning all three derbies. He went on to a very respectable career at stud and was a leading producer of stayers in Ireland and the U.K.

RD’s Randie won the Sapling Stake at Phoenix. In all, he tallied 29 top-grade wins at Phoenix in 1998 despite taking time out to represent his track at the IROC at Wichita.

TM’s Phone Call overcame his post in the five-hole in the 3/8ths mile final of the $50,000 Joseph Carney Memorial Triathalon at Raynham to score a three length victory over Red Rock and favorite JG Ivory. Palm Beach crowned its own all-distance champ, Conchy Girl, who won the Budweiser Iron Dog Triathalon.

Eventual Flashy Sir award and All America Team captain Granny captured her second Timberline Stake at Mile High. She won by five lengths over Arjo Pentree who held off Quicksand Slip in a photo for place.

In sprint news, WW Time Warp won the $10,000 Kansas Cup at the Woodlands over littermate WW Time Traveler. RD’s Hootie ran third. Bobby’s Cussler won the $5,000 added Sprint Classic at Corpus Christi while Greys Flamebeau won the Tampa Inaugural. At Flagler, Magic Silva Buck won the Firecracker 550 ahead of a strong field that included place and show finishers Kiowa Chippewa and DLB’s Codybegood. At Dubuque, Bart’s Cola won the King & Queen Stake to cap an eight-race win streak. San Tan Chance cruised to a 4-½ length win in the Southland Summer Juvenile.

In distance events, WV’s Jethro won the $50,000 WVGOBA Distance Classic at Wheeling. EF Bear Dog was second and EF Gale Blendway was third. Okie Trudy won the Seminole Distance Classic in a photo over Husker Jogger.

75-25 Theory?

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:20:00 +0000

Back in January, in my article "Why Imports? Why Now?" I noted that for the first time in more than thirty years we are seeing the arrival of top-class Greyhounds from abroad. It isn’t so much about an outcross, or "hybrid vigor," but using well-bred dogs whose pedigrees are loaded with productive bloodlines. It’s also about breeding to major stakes caliber dogs with track record speed.

The Irish have already experienced their import boom. They have imported many studs over the decades, both American and Australian, but except for Sand Man*, brother of Rooster Cogburn and Highway Robber, they have mostly experienced one disappointment after another with nothing resembling a top sire. All that changed, however, when pups by the Australian import Frightful Flash* first hit the tracks in late 1995. Smooth Rumble* soon followed, and even more importantly, was followed by Top Honcho*. What started out as a trickle soon turned into a deluge. With the exception of Staplers Jo and his heir Larkhill Jo, it seemed that if you wanted to win anything, an Australian stud was the ticket to the winner’s circle.

It is more than a decade later and the Irish breeding scene is forever altered. Many Irish pedigrees are one-half, five-eighths or even three-quarters Australian, and breeders are successfully crossing more Australian blood back to their Irish damlines, as well as American sires like Hondo Black*, Kiowa Sweet Trey and Flying Penske.

By comparison, we have not had anything near the number of quality import sires available to us. While the Irish had a large array of productive import sires from which to choose, we had just Fortress* and a number of broods. Interestingly, this tiny cohort of imports has had an effect on American pedigrees far out of proportion to its numbers. Looking at the All America teams just since 2002, 28 of the 43 individuals awarded All America honors had import blood within two generations, or had at least one parent with an import within two generations. It’s clear that imported lines have conferred a competitive advantage when crossed with American lines. In the cases where these crosses have worked, it was the very best bloodlines that have succeeded most often.

Some Irish breeders have even coined a name for this phenomenon, the "75/25 Theory," where a mating resulted in a dog of one-quarter import blood, or derived from a sire or dam of one-quarter import blood, added something tangible to the cross. For the U.S., studs with one American-bred parent and an imported one will create a 75/25 cross to almost any domestic brood. For broods with little import blood up close in their pedigrees, a half-Irish or half-Australian sire makes a lot of sense. Just make sure your choice is a Derby-class competitor out of outstanding bloodlines.

Ten Years Ago This Month

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:46:00 +0000

The cover of the July 1998 issue of the Greyhound Review featured the late Wayne Ward and WW Time Warp, winner of the Great American Greyhound Futurity at The Woodlands. Time Warp's win paid off to the tune of $125,428.50 and his brother WW Time Traveler ran third earning a further $25,000. Another pair of littermates, Memory Calling and Sanafel Sun, ran second and fourth. Both went on to star on the Jacksonville Circuit.

At Hollywood, Run Vickie Star won the $45,000 Hollywoodian by four lengths as an 18-1 longshot, while Kelsos Kingpin edged out Iruska Excalibur in a photo for second. Later that year she won the Hecht Marathon at Flagler and made the final of the American Derby and made the 1998 All America team.

Bool won the $25,000 Southland River Course Championship for the Beckner Kennel. Oshkosh Veto and Greys Rendezvous rounded out the Trifecta.

In the Dairyland Derby final, Black Gem Star ran out from under her more famous sister's shadow by racing to the winner's share of the $25,000 stake. Readers with long memories will recall that she is the littermate of 1997 Flashy Sir award winner and All America Winsome Doe. Breezin Quick and Genuine Genius ran second and third.

The great ML Dusty Trail won his 81st race with a win at Palm Beach on June 6th as he approached the end of his illustrious career. He ended up with 83 wins, was a 1997 All-America, won the 1997 Palm Beach He's My Man Classic and Father's Day feature, ran second in the '97 Palm Beach Guys & Dolls and '98 St. Pat's Invitational, and was the '97 Palm Beach track champ with 50 wins.

At Bluffs Run, heavy favorite My Mr Peabody missed his break and that was all it took for My Black Star to claim the victory in the People's Choice Stake.

The $60,000 Texas Round-Up at Gulf was won by Slatex Shell who picked up Seegold Big Red at the wire. In all she had 35 wins at Gulf in 1998 and went on to produce Wheeling star Slatex Striker. DV's Luke won the Gulf King & Queen Stake.

In other stakes, PA's Charade was the upset winner of the $10,000 Raynham-Taunton Massasoit Juvenile, Asti Four Alarm won the Naples Derby, Bart's Cola won the Dubuque Inaugural, Go Odessa Go won the Seminole Inaugural, Glamour Pants won the $20,000 Naples Marathon, Gina Said So won the Palm Beach Mother's Day feature, and Ico Whitewater won the $10,000 Corpus Christi Marathon.

At Multnomah, System Sybil followed up her win in the Inaugural with a box-to-wire victory in the $30,000 Henke Challenge. Feelings and Jivin Jim ran second and third.

July, of course, is a Stud Issue, and 194 pages of sires graced the back of the magazine.

Ten Years Ago This Month

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:38:00 +0000

On the cover of the June 1998 Greyhound Review were littermates Ex Line and Fighting Fantasy (Beckam Pay Day x Primrose Girl), $39,000 and $26,000 purchases, respectively, at the Spring Meet. In all, 143 pups sold for $925,000 for an average of $6,474.

Gary Guccione’s "Footnotes" column featured a description of the NGA’s new DNA program. All sires were required to be DNA-tested beginning in 1999 and all broods starting in 2000. Guccione described it as the "biggest registry innovation since the tattoo program was implemented in 1963."

The "Track Talk" feature noted that the National Greyhound Night of Stars generated $1,183,262 in handle and one fan hit the Pick-six to the tune of $35,130. Kip Keefer hosted assisted by Frank Ashman and Kenny Wright. Among the winners were CC Farr Mary at Wonderland, Kiowa Bet Dutch at Hollywood, LA Rolls Royce at Palm Beach, Amy Landry at Jacksonville, FM’s Spanky at Derby Lane, Betty N Ed at Southland, Prince Elijah at Dairyland, Feelings at Multnomah, Nodak Marvin at Cloverleaf, and Wigwam Hoss at Phoenix.

At Derby Lane, Snow Bow picked up Circus Esther at the wire to win the Gold Trophy Juvenile. Greys Seneca ran third.

The Bob Balfe/Molyneux Cup Puppy Stake at Palm Beach was won by Seegold Excell over Conchy Girl and Shogun Rowdy. It was only the beginning for him as he went on to win 57 races in a long and distinguished career.

At Bluffs Run, My Mr Peabody won his 100th career race which put him in very rare company. A month earlier, Pat C Yetter had won his 100th at Bluffs after a long stint at Geneva Lakes.

At Multnomah, System Sybil won the 66th running of the Inaugural. A length and a half back was Kiowa Xerox followed by Feelings who had come to Multnomah by way of Sarasota.

In his "From Overseas" column, Alan Lennox reported that the great Larkhill Jo had won the Scottish Derby at Shawfield "in grand style." The son of top sire Staplers Jo and the fabulous brood Westmead Flight missed his break, but outrushed the field to the turn and never looked back. Larkhill Jo was unbeaten in the qualifying rounds. He was the first dog in history to run under 28 seconds over 525 yards when he stopped the clock at Monmore in 27.95 in 1997. Larkhill Jo went on to a legendary career at stud following in the footsteps of his sire.

The first quarter 1998 Sire Standings showed Wigwam Wag on top with 180 wins, followed by EJ’s Douglas, 140; Oshkosh Racey, 133; P’s Raising Cain, 97; and the late HB’s Commander with 95.

The June Greyhounds of the month were Snow Bow and Gulf King & Queen Stake winner DV’s Luke. Honorable mention went to brothers Seegold Excell and Seegold Big Red.

Jack Archer

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:07:00 +0000

I just received notice that the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame is in receipt of Jack Archer's nomination and documentation and it will be forwarded to the nomination committee for review on Monday, June 16th. I don't expect to hear anything further for a while. He is being nominated for the class of 2009 and the inductees are not announced until spring.

Jack Archer

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sat, 31 May 2008 13:19:00 +0000

In 1951 Jack Archer put together a year few dogs have equaled before or since. He was the 1951 U.S. National Win Champion with 47 wins, including 22-straight, and the track champion at Morehead City, NC and Palm Beach, FL. He won match races against top stars from Palm Beach, Hollywood, Orlando and Moyock, NC. His 29 wins in 31 races at Morehead City in 1951 is still a record for victories in a 90-day meet. He set two track records at Morehead City over 550 yards, another track record over the Futurity Course at 485 yards, and also set the 545 yard track record at Palm Beach. He won the 1951 Carolina Inaugural and the Miss North Carolina Handicap at Morehead City, and the 1952 Palm Beach Inaugural, and was the 1951 North Carolina champion based on his victories in home-and-home match races over dogs from the Cavalier Kennel Club in Moyock, NC. In 1965 he was ranked 12th among the all-time greats of the sport by The Greyhound Racing Record.

Overall, his career record was 67-23-16 in 133 starts at Palm Beach, Biscayne, Morehead City, Orange Park, Moyock, and Daytona. He suffered only one loss in any stakes or match races over 5/16ths or Futurity courses when he ran third in the 1951 Orange Park Invitational—he was offstrided from behind while in the lead. A much anticipated match race with Real Huntsman was in the works, but Gene Randle elected to enter his future Hall of Famer in the 1951 Phoenix Derby instead.

I recently nominated him to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. In addition to an overview of his racing career, clippings from The Greyhound Racing Record, and other documentation, I sent the following cover letter:

North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame
P.O. Box 33035
Raleigh, NC 27636

Dear Nominating Committee,

In 1951 Jack Archer dominated his game like few others before or since. In an era long before major league sports arrived in the state, when NASCAR had barely got in gear, and before the Tar Heels had won their first NCAA title, he won a national championship in North Carolina and captured the interest of fans all across the country. Though he graced the covers of magazines and was photographed with beauty queens, Jack Archer couldn’t read his press clippings; he was a Greyhound, one of the finest to ever grace an oval and few have heard of him.

I’d like to change that.

In the 1950s, Greyhound racing was a premier sport in America, exceeded in popularity only by baseball, boxing, thoroughbred racing and college football. Professional football, basketball and NASCAR were in their infancy then, and were relatively minor sports.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Greyhound tracks at Moyock and Morehead City were the only ones between Massachusetts and Florida and drew large and enthusiastic crowds. They were premier facilities that attracted top kennels from all over the country. The grading system which classifies Greyhounds by performance to ensure even competition was invented by Paul Hartwell in North Carolina, and is still in use today throughout the industry.

Though he wasn’t born in North Carolina, Jack Archer raced an entire season here in his two years at the track, a typical career length for a Greyhound, and amassed nearly half of his career wins in the state. Most importantly, he put North Carolina on the national Greyhound racing map, attracting attention from publications like The Greyhound Racing Record as well as national wire services.

In 1953, the North Carolina Supreme Court, under pressure from anti-gambling groups, banned all pari-mutuel wagering in the state and the Greyhound tracks were shut down.

For a brief but shining moment, a national champion brought North Carolina to the attention of Greyhound racing fans nationwide. I think it’s time to honor this hero from a bygone era of North Carolina sports. Enclosed is his nomination form and documentation for consideration for the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame class of 2009.

Martin Roper

If there are further developments, I'll post them.

Ten Years Ago This Month

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:21:00 +0000

The cover of the May 1998 Greyhound Review featured Greys Flamebeau in full stretch winning the Derby Lane Sprint Classic. Breaking from box 1, he took the early lead and held on for a 2½ length victory over Kola Cora. Bomb Threat ran a distant third to round out the Trifecta. One week earlier, Bomb Threat won the Derby Lane Matinee Idol feature over Oshkosh Slammer and Dory’s Down Town, a good couple weeks for Mick D’Arcy and the Greymeadow Kennel at Derby Lane.

At Palm Beach, a Jacksonville greyhound captured the St. Patrick’s Invitational for the second year running. Twilite Polygram just held of a hard-charging ML Dusty Trail to win by half a length. ML Torpedo Lane ran another length back. Hi Stepper Mo won for Jacksonville in 1997. Also at Palm Beach, Seegold Excell won the 1998 Bob Balfe/Molyneux Cup Puppy Stake. Conchy Girl ran second followed by Shogun Rowdy.

The 1997 All-PBKC team was named, headed by ML Dusty Trail. He won 39 races at Palm Beach in 1997 including the $25,000 He’s My Man Classic. Hey Father John won the James W. Paul Derby and 41 races overall in 1997, including 13-straight. Dusty’s kennelmates ML Torpedo Run, ML Taffy Crunch and ML Foxy Move also made the team. They won 33, 27 and 28 races, respectively. ML Taffy Crunch won the first Night Of Stars event at Palm Beach. Conched Out won the 1997 Bob Balfe/Molyneux Cup Puppy Stake and 30 overall. Pat C Wagged was a 28-race winner despite missing six weeks to injury. Finally, Champions Kennel’s Hey Citgo won the 1997 Fall Futurity to nail down the final spot on the team.

At Raynham-Taunton, Pat C Westpark won the 1998 Patriot’s Day stake in box-to-wire fashion over a strong field that included RGS Chippewa and Twilite High Spy.

Out west, Honest Crow won the 1998 Phoenix Derby in a minor upset over Wigwam Whoopi, littermate of Wigwam Hoss and a star in her own right. She came back a year later to add the Phoenix Derby to her trophy case. Along with sibs like Wigwam Go N Whoa and Wigwam Nifty, they amassed 233 wins and their dam Rileys Marymary was 3rd in the 1998 Dam Standings and 5th in 1997.

At Tri-State, Jimbo Okie added the Spring Sprint Classic to his litter’s cache of major stakes wins. Black Chevy Star ran second followed by Ole Harry. Jimbo Okie had already won the 1997 Tri-State Holiday Distance Classic.

Among the Breedings Reported was the productive Flying Train - Craigie C Riley mating that produced 2000 Bluffs Run star Craigie Prancer for John Boyd.

Ten Years Ago This Month

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:59:00 +0000

Leo's Midas graced the cover of the April 1998 Greyhound Review commemorating his 100th win on the Jacksonville Circuit at four years, nine months of age. He had already racked up a tremendous career to that point, winning the 1995 Jacksonville Guys & Gals, the 1997 Night of Stars I and the All Star Preview. He ran second in the 1996 Jacksonville Mayor's Cup and Clay County Classic, third in the 1995 Orange Park Inaugural and 1996 All-Star Preview, and fourth in the 1995 Orange Park Clay County Classic. He was the 1995 St. Johns meet co-champ with 11 wins and closed out his career with 103 victories.

Alan Lennox reported from overseas that the great Some Picture had been voted Britain's 1997 Greyhound of the Year following his victories in the English and Scottish Derbies. His pedigree had a strong American influence through a 3x4 cross of Sand Man*, brother of Rooster Cogburn and Highway Robber.

The vote was in for the Flashy Sir and Rural Rube awards. For the routers, Winsome Doe took home the hardware. She won the 1997 Dairyland Sprint, ran second in the Dairyland Derby, third in the Dairyland 7th Anniversary Stake (5/16ths), and was the Dairyland track champ with 44 wins. She clocked the two fastest times of the year in both 5/16ths and 3/8ths at Dairyland in 1997. Kiowa Bet Dutch and Cee Bar Snow were the runner-up and second runner-up in the balloting.

The incredible Scott Free was the runaway winner of the Rural Rube voting. He captured six stakes in 1997 including the Derby Lane Sprint Classic, won 33 races at Derby Lane, and was the wagering favorite in every one of his starts. In addition to the Sprint Classic, he won the King & Queen Stake, Matinee Idol, Fan's All-Star Race, T.L. Weaver Memorial, and the Tampa Inaugural. He went off at less than even money in all but six of his races en route to compiling a record of 37-2-2 in 42 starts. His only finish out of the trifecta in 1997 was the one in which he suffered a career-ending injury. No other Greyhound in the country received a significant number of votes.

Greys Betsy Ross won the $100,00 1998 Derby Lane Distance Classic. The Mick D'Arcy trained star crossed the line ahead of Elaine Rae and JD's Rocket. Race favorite Oshkosh Slammer fell after a poor start. Greys Betsy Ross added the Fan's All Star Race blanket to her wardrobe later that season and went on to a fine brood career producing Fuzzys Cannon.

Wigwam Hoss won the 1998 Hollywood World Classic. The Phoenix star finished three lengths ahead of favorite Kelso's Kingpin. SA Gossip was third followed by My Boots Bingham, Conched Out, TB Feature, Kydo River Farah and Brady Brad.

At Palm Beach, LA Rolls Royce captured the James W. Paul Derby ahead of Moving Star and Hey Father John. They were followed across the line by Conchy Girl, Hiker's Fantasy, Hey Buzz, Sunpoint Warrior, and Cee Bar Rowdy.

The 1997 All America team was announced. Not surprisingly, Scott Free captained a squad that included Cee Bar Snow, Fast Money, Kydo River Farah, ML Dusty Trail, Starlight Irene, Wigwam Hoss, and Winsome Doe.

Among the Whelpings Reported was a January 9th litter by Oswald Cobblepot out of Bart's Saltine that produced 1999 All America Bart's E Mail.

The April edition was also a Stud Issue that went on for 77 pages featuring well over 300 studs. By 1998, Molotov was already $1200 for frozen implant and $1500 for a natural breeding based on his first litters at the track. Others included Blendway at $1500, Oshkosh Racey $1500, Wigwam Wag $1500, P's Raising Cain $1,000, Greys Statesman $1000, and Oswald Cobblepot at a very reasonable $750.

Where has our history gone? Part III

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:29:00 +0000

I came across the chart for the 1953 Taunton Gold Collar won by Holy Brother. I posted it on Greyhound-data.com. Just go to his pedigree page to access it.

If you have the April 1998 issue of Greyhound Review there is an excellent article on Holy Brother and the 1953 Taunton Blue Ribbon Stake by Henry Maxim, Jr. His last sentence reads, "Wouldn't he be an excellent choice for the Greyhound Hall of Fame?" I have to agree. There are dogs in the Hall of Fame now whose careers are no better than that of Holy Brother.

Ten Years Ago This Month

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:36:00 +0000

The cover of the March 1998 Greyhound Review featured Colorado star Beams Full Moon, winner of the 1998 Interstate Winter Sprint and Cloverleaf Inaugural. He was named captain of the 1997 All-Mile High Team after a year highlighted by capturing the $100,000 Colorado Classic. Other team members included Guys & Dolls champ Galilee, Timberline winner Granny, Mile High Inaugural winner Lord Dempsey, Interstate Juvenile champ Leggonized, as well as Full Of Spirit, Pat C Catcall, and Pat C Caste.

ML Taffy Crunch upset ML Dusty Trail and Seegold Excell in the He's My Man Royal Palm Classic at Palm Beach. Dusty Trail ran into all kinds of trouble and finished last and Taffy Crunch held gamely to beat Seegold Excell by a nose. Excell was a $9,000 1997 NGA Fall Meet purchase.

The great Bomb Threat won the Derby Lane All-Star Kennel Preview. Running out of the Greyameadow Kennel and trained by Mick D'Arcy, he ran past favorite Oshkosh Slammer for the title.

MDM Phantom Lite was dominating Southland in early 1998 winning seven-straight. Jet Set Jerry set a Southland track record over the 660-yard course at 36.54.

The 1997 final Sire Standings were announced. The late HB's Commander topped the list, followed by Oshkosh Racey, Mi Designer, Wigwam Wag, Trouper Zeke, Bara Buzz, EJ's Douglas, Hey Vern, Flying Train and Tipp Lad*. The Dam Standings were topped by Steves Stones, followed by Panama Pee Wee, ML Hello Dolly, Rema Bellmard, Riley's Marymary, Dakota Penny, RL Dalley, Yellow Rose, Mi Tate, and Sparkling Babe.

Lincoln topped all U.S. tracks in 1997 for average purses per performance with $22,553. Multnomah was second with $20,966; Derby Lane third at $16,536; Wheeling fourth, $14,761; Bluffs Run fifth, $13,650; Hollywood sixth, 13,629; Raynham seventh, $13,337; Tampa 8th, $13,179; Southland 9th, $12,764; and Phoenix tenth, $12,613.

Gable Dodge, ML Taffy Crunch, and 1997 American Derby winner Phoebe Ann were Gary Guccione's Greyhounds of the Month. Gable Dodge had won 29 of his last 46 starts, often going off at odds of ten cents to the dollar.

P's Raising Cain was by far the most popular stud in the country with 27 breedings. Wigwam Wag was a distant second with 12, followed by Trojan Episode with 11, Dungaree and Greys Statesman with nine, and Oshkosh Racey with eight. A young super-sire in the making, Molotov, managed only four breedings.

Where has our history gone? Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:59:00 +0000

While filling in race winners on Greyhound-data from a variety of sources, I came across Holy Brother, a tremendous dog from the early 1950s. There are a number of dogs who accomplished less who are enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Holy Brother, Black dog, whelped 25 September 1950; owner, G. A. Alderson.

2nd 1952 Taunton Blue Ribbon Stake
Fnl 1952 Taunton American Derby
1st 1953 Derby Lane Inaugural
1st 1953 Derby Lane Festival Stake
1st 1953 St. Pete Derby
1st 1953 Mile High Jack Fisher Memorial
1st 1953 Mile High Timberline Stake
1st 1953 Taunton Blue Ribbon Stake
4th 1953 Taunton American Derby
1st 1954 St. Pete Derby
1st 1954 Mile High Jack Fisher Memorial
1st 1954 Mile High Denver Post Empire Race
2nd 1954 Mile High Timberline Stake
Fnl 1954 Taunton American Derby

To be perfectly honest, I had never heard of him until I found most of his stakes wins in the American Greyhound Racing Encyclopedia 1963. There is scant mention of him in Great Names In Greyhound Pedigrees. If anyone has a picture of Holy Brother, or any further info, please e-mail me.

Where has our history gone?

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:20:00 +0000

Outside of Great Names In Greyhound Pedigrees, Volumes I and II, we in the racing community have done a poor job of documenting the great history of Greyhound stakes races. Newer fans of racing and recent members of the National Greyhound Association do not have stacks of back issues of Greyhound Review to consult, and even many long-time members discard old issues.

To that end I've started a new project to add the pedigrees of every stake winner in U.S. racing history to the Greyhound-data site. I have a number of sources, primarily the American Greyhound Racing Encyclopedia (1963), as well as lists such as the one in the February 1997 issue of Greyhound Review (pp. 73-86).
I'm missing a number of Stud Books from the racing era, particularly, 1946, 1937, 1935, and 1929-1932. Other than those, I have all the rest from 1933 to present.

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Anyone who owns those volumes, especially Volume 39 (1946), I'd like to hear from you.

jcsperson@yahoo.com

Ten Years Ago This Month

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:29:00 +0000

The cover of the February 1998 Greyhound Review featured 1997 national win champ EK Maedarling (Ion Fast Trax x Win D Puff). She won 55 races at Pensacola including 16-straight to close out the year.

Oshkosh Slammer (Oshkosh Racey x Oshkosh Video) won the 1998 Derby Lane Inaugural in the quick time of 30.45 and Flying Hades (Flying Gunman x Willowrun Mom) captured the Derby Lane Puppy Preview.

At Tri-State, Jimbo Okie (Star Chariot* x Little Portion) won the $50,000 Holiday Distance Classic over a field that included Fortified Power and Ole Harry. Jimbo Okie also won the 1998 Tri-State $50,000 Sprint and was from a remarkable litter that included 1997 New Hamphire Lottery Stake winner Jimbo Scotty and 1998 St. Pete Derby winner Jimbo’s Chelsie.

Ballots for the 1997 Rural Rube and Flashy Sir awards featured Beams Full Moon, Bean Brewer, Bomb Threat, brothers Galilee and Lord Dempsey, Grace Land Blaze, Leo’s Midas, ML Dusty Trail, My Thane, SC’s Mask Rider, and Scott Free among the sprinters; and Cee Bar Snow, Granny, Hey Father John, Kiowa Bet Dutch, Slatex Shell, and Winsome Doe for the routers.

Southland’s Phoebe Ann (Great Son x Skitch) won the 1997 American Derby at Lincoln over Wake Up Alarm and Slatex Shell and Okie Kail won the Fred Cairone Memorial Countdown.

Kiowa Chippewa (My Rooster x Kiowa Day War) kicked off a terrific career with a win in the Hollywood Futurity.

Among the interesting whelpings reported was the Fortress* - Greys Julianna cross that produced 2000 All American Greys Free Bird, a repeat breeding of a December 1995 litter that featured Greys Flamebeau.

Has it really been 10 years?

Everything You Know Is Wrong

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:59:00 +0000

In the 1970s, an American comedy troupe comparable to Monty Python was the Firesign Theater. They never reached the superstar status of their English counterparts, but their albums were popular on college campuses across the country. The title of one of them, Everything You Know is Wrong, has become a personal motto of mine—it seems that almost daily new discoveries in science and exploration make us reassess what we once held to be true.

The same can be said for Greyhounds. A long-held belief, published as fact in dozens of books and repeated on hundreds of web sites, is that the breed is of Egyptian or Middle-Eastern origin. The assertion is puzzling because there are no Greyhound breeds presently residing in the Middle East. The Saluki, Sloughi, and Afghan Hound are clearly of a different type than modern Greyhounds, and it’s hard to imagine that they descend from a common ancestor. On the other hand, Greyhounds and Greyhound-type dogs are common in central Europe, Spain and the British Isles. As early as 1853, John Henry Walsh, writing under the pseudonym "Stonehenge," made a clear case for a Celtic origin for the breed in his book The Greyhound, but not too many authors since him seem to have been able to make the same connection.

From the beginning of the first millenium B.C., the Greeks were seafarers and traders and regularly visited ports all along the southeastern Mediterranean in what is now Egypt and the Middle East. Much of what we know of that area in those times was recorded by Greek historians and there is no mention of Greyhounds. The breed was completely unknown to them prior to 200 B.C., the time of their first encounters with the Keltoi, as they called them, a tribal culture from the north. In 300 B.C., Xenophon made no mention of Greyhounds in his discussion of dog breeds in his treatise On Hunting. Two centuries later, the poet Grattius wrote of the Celts’ dogs that, "...swifter than thought or a winged bird it runs, pressing hard on beasts it has found." Arrian, another Greek, but who wrote in Latin, clearly identified the Vertragus, the predecessor of the modern Greyhound.

The Celtic culture flourished from what is now Austria, west to northern Spain, and north to the farthest reaches of the British Isles and Ireland. Everywhere they went they took their dogs with them and left offshoots of the Vertragus. In Spain it was the Galgo; in the British Isles, it was a bewildering array of sighthounds in a wide variety of sizes and coats, from giant dogs we now call Wolfhounds to "Tumblers," by contemporary accounts a Whippet-sized dog. The Celts made no distinction among their sighthound varieties. To add to the confusion, English writers up until the 16th century called all the larger Celtic dogs "Greyhounds," and the dog we call the Greyhound today, the "Coursing dog." Irish Wolfhounds in those days were prized in Europe for hunting Boar, and the demand for the largest Greyhounds "of the Irish type" was great and they fetched tremendous prices.

The present Greyhounds, the ones we love, are the result of the coursing craze after the death of the Forest Laws in the 17th century which prevented commoners from coursing or even owning Greyhounds. The coursing rules of the day dictated a very specific range of performance and traits, and those are the ones we see in our dogs today. Almost all the other varieties of Celtic sighthounds disappeared. Even the Irish Wolfhound is a re-creation of a breed that had all but gone extinct.

Two recent landmark genetic studies have confirmed Walsh to be correct. The first, "Multiple and Ancient Origins of the Domestic Dog" (1997), traced the mitochondrial DNA from ancient times to the present day Greyhound. Interestingly, three other breeds derive from the same strain, the St. Bernard, Miniature Schnauzer, and the Irish Setter, which suggests male-line introductions of other breeds to Greyhound-line females who were the foundations of those breeds. All three originate in areas where Celtic culture flourished.

The second, and more definitive study, "Genetic Structure of the Purebred Domestic Dog" (2004), used Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), clumps of identical DNA strings that appear in groups of breeds, but often not in others. The study clearly showed that Salukis and Afghan Hounds were part of an "Asian" group along with the Chow, Akita, and Shar-pei. Predictably, the Greyhound appeared in what I’ll call the "Celtic" group along with the Irish Wolfhound, but also as a progenitor of more recent breeds including the Whippet, Borzoi, Belgian Sheepdog, Belgian Tervuren, Collie, Shetland Sheepdog, and the St. Bernard. A glance at a map clearly shows that all those breeds originate within the influence of Celtic culture in Europe.

It’s time the Celts got their due as the caretakers of the breed, not Egyptian Pharoahs or Mesopotamian kings who never saw a Greyhound.