Rhode Island: Flying Good Luck Wins at Twin River Greyhound Park

Flying Good Luck used a hellacious rush to the first turn to grab the clean lead and then held on at the end over the race favorite to capture the Angelo Marchione Memorial Juvenile Stakes at Twin River Greyhound Park in Lincoln, Rhode Island on Saturday night, August 4th. Good Luck survived a near collision at the corner with another greyhound as he recovered from breaking dead last to blast to the lead, covering the 1,650 foot 5/16ths of a mile distance in 31.40 seconds. In the process, the red male beat TK Rocket Man, who had gone undefeated through the three elimination rounds leading up to the final but could not quite get by the leader down the stretch.

Good Luck was making career start number six in the stakes final, an event in which only greyhounds whelped on or after July 2005 could compete. The September 2005 son of Flying Hydrogen and Flying Harriet had won his Maiden and Grade J race after schooling in, and then was entered into the Juvenile with just those two outings under his belt. A Round One sixth place finish due to traffic problems was no surprise for such an inexperienced racer, but in the next heat Flying Good Luck ran a strong third. In the last round he came from second to win by a pair of lengths, going into the finals as a morning line long shot at 10-1.

TK Rocket Man was the 9-5 choice in the program and 7-5 as the Juvenile went to post. The Rocket had toured the Twin River oval for twenty-five official starts, scoring triumphs in nine of those. The black male hardly broke a sweat in the prelims, winning each time by at least three lengths and putting up some fast clockings for the 550 yards. The Tutalo-Richard Kennel racer had broken in at the Woodlands in Kansas before his trip east, and in this race, from the three hole, he appeared to have a lot going for him.

Flying Real Loud, one of three EP's Kennel finalists in the Angelo Marchione Juvenile final, was a real threat from the one box, as the little guy was showing lots of bottom in his lines and had run a 30.16 in Round Two. Oneco Touch Gold in the two was a Kiowa Sweet Trey female just starting out, the youngest in the field, a November 2005 pup. Rocket Man in the three had BTR Captain Jack in the four to worry about, another novice that had lines similar to Flying Good Luck's. CTW Well Defined in the five had won half of his fourteen Twin River tries, including two out of the three qualifying events, both from behind. Flying Lyman wore the yellow six blanket, a greyhound that had run in an impressive nineteen quinielas out of twenty-five tilts. Lyman had seven wins and a dozen second place efforts, and had been doing damage recently in the top Twin River grade, AA. Starz Chiquita in the seven had been a high-odds qualifier, winning during the second round at 11-1. Flying Good Luck in the eight rounded out the Juvenile, and when the box opened, his odds were at $6.50 to 1.

He appeared to perhaps be looking at those odds when the box was sprung, as he broke last, but not so badly that it was potentially a deal breaker. On the rush to the turn the one, two, and four all dropped back early and Flying Good Luck was already beginning to run by the seven, Starz Chiquita. Rocket Man had looked as if he was going to break away from the pack for an instant, but Well Defined and Flying Lyman caught up to him and this would prove costly. Although he stayed on the rail and came out of the turn in relatively good shape, he did have enough trouble to keep him from really getting untracked. Meanwhile, Good Luck was really motoring around the corner, and he was fortunate not to have been more involved in the first turn troubles that developed when Rocket Man rushed through on the inside and Flying Lyman was slightly bumped and sent wide.

Down the backstretch of the Twin River track, Good Luck had about three on Rocket Man; with no one else able to mount a challenge it would come down to this pair for the victory in the Juvenile. Although it seemed as if Rocket Man had the leader lined up a couple of times, each time he made a move Good Luck would respond with a burst. Down the stretch it was Rocket Man making one last bid, but Good Luck held firm and won the Angelo Marchione Juvenile Stakes by a length and a half. He keyed a superfecta worth over $1,600, one which certainly had some Twin River patrons praising their Good Luck.