19th Greyhound Night of Stars Ends at Phoenix Greyhound Park with Coldwater Torres's 13th in a Row

By the time the 19th Night of Stars had made it all the way out to Arizona, for the sixteenth and final race of the evening at Phoenix Greyhound Park, it had been quite a show. The Night of Stars is a greyhound racing event that simulcasts sixteen different races from sixteen different dog tracks from around the nation twice a year, with some of the proceeds from each race going to greyhound adoption. Simulcast into dog tracks and race books around the United States, the Night of Stars showcases the best racers at each of these facilities. There had been plenty of favorites that came through as expected over the course of the performance, but many upsets occured as well. In the nightcap, run at Phoenix, there would be no grand climax of unanticipated proceedings. The magnificent Coldwater Torres would see to that.

Coldwater Torres may have been the closest thing to a sure thing on this Night of Stars program. The winner of a dozen Phoenix grade AA sprints in a row, the 72 pound fawn male out of WW Time Warp and Hey Bell Dancer had drawn a two hole in his attempt to avenge a Night of Stars XVIII loss back in November. In his last nineteen races, Torres had won eighteen, and included in that remarkable run was the 2006 Phoenix Greyhound Park Juvenile title. Now, as a prohibitive favorite at sixty cents on the dollar, Coldwater Torres was being loaded into the boxes to run the 1,650 foot 5/16ths of a mile course that he just about owned. In the four hole was BC Deuces Wild, a white-hot puppy that had been as scorching over this distance as the Arizona sun. The winner of four straight, Deuces Wild was primed to show that he, a 67 pound black male out of Clever Corbin and Bill's Dream, four months younger than the two and a half year old Torres, was the king of the Phoenix sprint hill. When the boxes opened, Torres had other ideas, and he sent Deuces Wild to Boot Hill.

On the rush to the turn, Coldwater Torres bulled to the front like he has for the past few months. Torres has had another greyhound in front of him only once since last November 18th, and that was in his last loss back in February. As Arizona's top greyhound, Torres is virtually unbeatable to the first bend, and on this night it was more of the same. The difference is that Deuces Wild was right on his trail as he motored around the Phoenix track and down the backstretch. Savvy Nani, another highly regarded sprinter in this race as an eleven race winner in 2007, was nowhere to be seen from the six hole, having encountered trouble, and it looked like the chalk players would end the Night of Stars on a good note, as the pair of betting choices were running one-two.

But a funny thing happened on their way to the window to claim their winnings when Deuces Wild, tiring of chasing this machine that was Coldwater Torres, decided that for once this was too much to bear and began to fade. Late speed whizzes Activist and RD's Qwest were more than happy to send some of the railbirds home on a down note when they flew by Deuces Wild and ran second and third respectively to Torres, who crossed the line in 30.47, a length in front. The quiniela of Torres and Activist paid a handsome dividend of $52, the triple of 2-7-1 returned $344, and the 2-7-1-4- superfecta came back at $1,466. This was pocket change compared to the nearly twenty-thousand super that had materialized a bit farther south in the Arizona night a few minutes before at Tucson Greyhound Park's Night of Stars contest, but decent enough with such a favorite leading the way across the line.

Torres had lucky number thirteen in a row in the bag and the 19th Night of Stars was history. The show had seen standouts like Pat C Clement, Snow Blower, Greys Swing Gate, My Johnnys Wish, and the aforementioned Torres live up to their billing at their tracks. It had seen an exciting stakes final in Iowa that Barts Navigator stole away late for his handlers, and the best dog in the country, Flying Stanley, get beaten at Florida's Palm Beach Kennel Club. It had seen the shattering of a twenty-one year old record at Arkansas's Southland Greyhound Park by Kiowa Apple Lyde, and a superfecta for the ages in Arizona. The19th Night of Stars was a huge success, with greyhound adoption the big winner. Come November, we will see if the twentieth version of this format can be nearly as exciting. Don't bet against it.