Flyin Bridgeport: Contender for 2007 Greyhound Racing's Top Distance Racer

The surest bet in greyhound racing this year is that Flyin Bridgeport will win the Flashy Sir Award for 2007. Flyin Bridgeport was a dominant router at Derby Lane in St. Petersburg, Florida, last year, and there are precious few greyhounds that can even attempt to make a claim on the Flashy Sir Award, named after the multiple stakes winner who dominated his sport in the mid-1940s. Flyin Bridgeport won a pair of distance stakes contested over 660 yards in 2007, the Distance Classic in April and the 660-yard Challenge Championship in December; he is the only greyhound up for the Flashy Sir with two major stakes crowns to his credit in 2007.

The focus on longer races has diminished in the greyhound world in recent years, with the vast majority of races run at 550 yards or slightly longer at almost every track. Only a handful of venues contest 770 yard marathons on a regular basis nowadays, with Naples-Fort Myers being the one place that has quite a few weekly. That oval is where Greys Swing Gate plies her trade, a wonderful router that is currently in the midst of an 8 race win streak at 770 yards. Swing Gate should prove to be the only real competition for Flyin Bridgeport in the Flashy Sir voting, which is much like the Cy Young Award in baseball is for pitchers, except it goes to the outstanding distance hound.

Swing Gate won the Hurricane Stakes at Naples last spring and a couple of Night of Stars races, one in May and the other in November. However, Derby Lane is a more revered track than Naples is, making Bridgeport's accomplishments carry a bit more weight. Bridgeport broke in at the Woodlands in Kansas before shipping to Derby Lane and starting 2007 in the Sunshine State. The 70 pound white and brindle son of Kiowa Sweet Trey and Flying Harriet, who turns 3 years old this week, competed in both distance and sprint stakes throughout the year, winning the 2 titles and running fifth in the St. Pete's Derby as the chalk. The versatile performer also ran third in the Sprint Classic over 550 yards and second in the Derby Lane Million Consolation event, also a shorter race.

Other greyhounds that have decent distance resumes for last year include Santa's Playgirl, who won the Orange Park Marathon in Jacksonville, and Phenomenal Dream, who took the St. Pete's Derby. The fine Palm Beach distance stalwart, Homicide, suffered a career ending injury in March, costing him a chance at the Flashy Sir honors, as he was having an outstanding start to 2007. Other than these fine greyhounds mentioned there aren't any others that you can realistically make a case for against Flyin Bridgeport.

Bridgeport and Swing Gate are likely to meet up at Naples, as the $50,000 Naples Derby draws near. Bridgeport has gone south to Naples to tune up for that event, having already scorched a pair of fields over 660 yards by a combined 15 lengths. Meanwhile, Swing Gate is terrorizing all comers on the marathons, but he will be the mix when Derby qualifying gets underway, as she is equally at home over 660 yards. If they were to meet in the finals of the Naples Derby, that clash could go a long way perhaps in determining the 2008 Flashy Sir winner, as Flyin Bridgeport would seem to be a lock for the 2007 version of the prestigious award.

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