Top-Distance Greyhounds at Massachusetts' Raynham Greyhound Park

Raynham Greyhound Park in Massachusetts (south of Boston about halfway between Beantown and Providence, Rhode Island) boasts several outstanding 3/8ths dogs. The cream of the crop seems to be the veteran Royal Reverie. However the upstart youngster Fuzzys Bluebird has made the transition from the sprints to the routes and appears more than comfortable on the longer yardage course and may present a challenge. Raynham Greyhound Park has quite a few other top-notch, 660-yard runners, with the likes of greyhounds such as Starz Tamatha, Dakotas Scotty, Dutch Delightful, Kiowa Spaceghost, Movin Backside, San Tan Whamo, and Worldclass Gina capable of winning any race they are in.

Royal Reverie was a fine late speed sprinter for a long time at the Bay State oval before being tried on the 660 yard route and the red male responded with 18 3/8ths wins since last August's change in scenery. Reverie is able to make the lead and pull away or come from off the pace, and the 3 year old son of Gable Dodge is always favored when he heads to post. This may change once Fuzzys Bluebird gains some experience, as the 2 year old blue brindle male out of Pacific Mile has just a trio of route races under his belt. But for the time being, Royal Reverie is the king of Raynham routes.

One must remember that a dog moving from the sprints to the routes is faced with breaking out of the box and immediately having to handle a turn in traffic, as opposed to the 5/16ths races where they have a long run before the corner comes up. Bluebird's first try on the distance was a last place effort after breaking from the unfamiliar position of the 3/8ths box and being cutoff early. His next time out he bolted to the lead from the 7 hole and established a 5 length lead, eventually winning by a single length, but against the very formidable closer Dutch Delightful. A second place adventure his next time running, by a nose, showed all the Raynham Greyhound Park faithful that Bluebird is indeed a serious contender on the backside, as they say.

That loss by a nose came to 3 year old Worldclass Gina, who needs the front to do her best work. When the daughter of Oswald Cobblepot does get the lead, she is a handful, as Bluebird found out. Another newcomer to the longer races is Dakota Scotty, but he certainly is a fast learner. After breaking in at Raynham late last summer and showing tons of late foot, Scotty went up and down in the lower grades, usually winning when he dropped in class but getting in trouble on the rush to the turn in the 550 yard races, making him have to work hard to get back into the fray. But the switch to 660 yards has produced 2 wins in 3 tries, with the victories coming when he flashed to the lead and steadily pulled away. Scotty is now in Grade A company and we will see what he does against stiffer competition.

One of those who cannot be ignored by the bettors is Starz Tamatha, a 2 ½ year old black female out of Flying Penske. Tamatha won 14 times in 2007 and ran a strong second to Winning Joker in the 2007 Raynham Greyhound Park Derby. Tamatha flies home when she gets the running room late and always has to be accounted for. Dutch Delightful just turned 2, and when his handlers saw how powerful she closed on the sprints, she too was sent to the longer 660s. She hasn't won one yet but it's not for the lack of trying. Delightful, a brindle bitch sired by DK's Prime Time, doesn't get close enough early to score a triumph, but that is going to change as she figures things out.

These youngsters sometimes get their comeuppance from the 5-year-old senior Movin Backside, who every now and then grabs the spot right behind the lure and surprises the field. He has been going back and forth from the sprints to the routes for most of his long career at Raynham, where he has been to post an amazing 175 times! Another older greyhound, but nowhere near the elder statesman as Backside, is 3 ½ year old Ale Rockin Whamo, a black female from San Tan Whammo who can usually be found in the fray every time she comes out of the box. Whamo made the ticket 36 times last year and recently handled Royal Reverie, before losing a nail biter to him last time out. This mix of talented 3/8ths greyhounds at Raynham Greyhound Park makes for an exciting time when they get together at one of the top dog tracks in the nation.

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