Houston, Texas: $10,000 Stubbs Harley Summer Sprint Underway at Gulf Greyhound Park

After the first two rounds of the $10,000 Stubbs Harley Summer Sprint at Gulf Greyhound Park near Houston, Texas, one thing is crystal clear- Eli Skinner is going to be tough to beat. After four sub-par outings prior to the stakes , Skinner, who has been a stalwart at Gulf Greyhound Park for some time now, got back in the winner's circle when he had to, winning in Round One in a romp and then defeating the always dangerous Bob's Wal in Round Two. Eli is the only greyhound in the competition to be undefeated after the first pair of eliminations, with two more to go before the September 3rd Labor Day final.

Skinner couldn't buy a break in his four starts before the Stubbs Harley Sprint began, finishing no better than fourth each time and dropping out of the top Gulf Greyhound Park grade, AA. However, once the box opened for the stakes prelims, Skinner looked like the dog that had run in the quiniela in almost half of his thirty-nine starts this year and had recently broken the thirty second barrier for the 550 yard sprint distance. He came within one tick of the timer from doing it in his six and a half length cakewalk win, running a 30.00. Drawing the eight hole in Round Two, he broke to the lead, with the monstrous closer Bob's Wal somehow clearing in second from the one hole. The chartwriter saw just three lengths separating this pair at the first call, but trust me it was more like six. Bob's Wal had run a real clunker in the first round and now had to have a good showing to get back into contention for this competition, and he began to eat away at Skinner's lead. It was simply too much to ask any dog to make that many lengths disappear though, and Skinner held on by one in the fastest time of the day once more, a 30.24, but he definitely could hear Bob's Wal's footsteps as they came down to the wire.

Red Ace had been hot going into the Harley Sprint and after a third in the opener he managed to stave off a late rush by LNB's Joe's On Top to record a much needed victory in the second round. The youthful Bob's Design had gone off at even money in that heat, but he never moved a muscle while running last in a disappointing effort for a greyhound with nine wins in twenty-one starts, including one by a length in Round One. Another Stubbs Sprint favorite, SP's Rags, could not get away from Shadows Bythebay down the backstretch and the resulting duel tired him so much that he faded right off the board. San Shadow ran by and won the contest, to go with a closing place effort in the previous round, and late kicker extraordinaire C Ya Wild Fire came flying for a second. Rags has to get it in gear to avoid being knocked out of the fray now, as the low eight dogs point-wise were cut after Round Two and will be again after the third.

The versatile San Tan View won a long battle with San Tan Ames and Nita's Suntan to emerge with a triumph in another second round race, the win making up for a poor seventh in her prior qualifying heat. DLT Boogie Man was clobbered at the corner and ran last, but he could afford to after his stunning win in Round One at 9-1 odds over San Tan Ugh Lee, a decision by a head. Ugh Lee's seventh place showing in the second round has him in a precarious spot, and he too will need to step it up to advance to the finals.

In other Gulf Greyhound news, the fabulous youngster, Cry Vern, won his eighth in a dozen starts on Friday night, August 17th. Vern, who a couple races back came from last and won a AA event, went to the front in this one from the seven hole, so you can imagine the result. It was an utter demolition of the field, as he soared to a twelve length win in a stunning 29.98 seconds. Vern runs out of the LQK Kennel, and before you ask why he wasn't entered in the stakes, you need to realize that Eli Skinner, Red Ace, and Sans Shadow are all LQK racers, the top three point-getters so far in the stakes. There is no need to rush Vern, who is gaining experience every start; soon there may be no greyhound at Gulf that can handle the 79 pound son of Gable Dodge, who won't even turn two years old until the calendar says December.