St.Petersburg, Florida: Turbo Penske and Macbeth Headline Derby Lane Weekend

There were eyebrow- raising upsets and many expected results this past weekend at Derby Lane, the country's oldest greyhound track, located in St. Pete's, Florida. Kaias Sequoyah 's four race win streak bit the dust on Friday night, August 10th, as the speedster could not avoid the pitfalls that can occur during a race. BD's Romano rewarded the patrons' faith with a win, and Flying Macbeth showed why nobody at Derby Lane wants to tangle with him. Turbo Penske continued his return to the form that had eluded him for months on the routes, but Flyin Midnite had the clock strike twelve on her bid for yet another win. Red Dirt Road, an up and down performer, was up, up, and away as he posted the best time of the evening.

Sequoyah is the fastest dog at the Florida oval, but she was never able to get going in her heat from the two box. On the break, she was sandwiched by the one and three, and the five dog, Flying Oprah, bolted to the front. Sequoyah, who has the quickest sprint time at Derby Lane this year, dropped back and never challenged after that. Furion, wearing the red blanket, came on late and caught the fading Oprah, while Turbo Wind Blown and Happy Capy did the same. Oprah settled for fourth, but with Sequoyah off the board, the superfecta came back huge. It returned almost ten thousand dollars to the bettor who played 1-8-6-5 straight, and whoever it was deserved every penny of that for leaving Sequoyah off the ticket.

For the most part, chalks ruled the rest of the card. Fleet Mary had dropped down to Grade B for the fourth race, but the veteran router bounced right back to the top levels with a box to wire showing over the route. BD's Romano was too much for the Grade A tenth field to handle, as the two year old brindle boy won for the fourth time in seven Derby Lane starts, a 30.77 second effort over the 550 yards. Night of Stars victor Kiowa Zapper Jay also refused an extended stay in Grade B, as he handily won the twelfth to earn the right to knock heads with the elite of St. Pete.

On Saturday, the 11th, Derby Lane put on its usual great performance. In the matinee, Flying Macbeth was looking for his sixth win in eight starts for the current Derby Lane meet, and it did not take him long to find it. Coming out of the one box at six dimes to the buck, Macbeth destroyed his competitors by seven lengths in 30.50. The son of Flying Hydrogen has taken seven of his last nine and has developed into one of the most highly regarded runners at the track after a mediocre start to his career. In the tenth, the youngster Flying Seward won his first A race, as the December 2005 Kiowa Sweet Trey pup held firm late at 3-1 odds.

Turbo Penske has been at it for some time at Derby Lane and Tampa, an accomplished distance dog that won the Tampa Derby last winter. However, since the black male came back to Derby Lane in January, he struggled to win races, until recently. Penske won only half a dozen times in the first six months of 2007, but on Saturday night he won for the fourth time since July 1st, going box to wire in 37.77, easily defeating the likes of Phenomenal Dream and Game Spirit, who had run him down last time out.

Flying Midnite has been on a tear, winning five races and running second twice in her last seven. Midnite was looking for her fourth consecutive triumph, but she ran into Kiowa Larry's Run, who was having none of it. Larry went right to the lead and Midnite could not catch up, running second by three. The Derby Lane routers are all taking advantage of the absence of Flyin Bridgeport, who has headed north to run at Twin River in Lincoln, Rhode Island to prepare for the American Derby.

Red Dirt Road is an eventual candidate to run the longer 660 yard 3/8ths course, but for now he is on the 1,650 foot sprints. He took the last A event of the evening, hauling in Greys Manta Ray with no trouble in 30.54 seconds. It was the thirteenth win of his career, as Red Dirt Road strives for the consistency that will make him one of the toughest greyhounds to beat at Derby Lane.