1st Round American Greyhound Derby at Mardi Gras March 11, 2013 Afternoon and Evening Programs

Eb Netr

March 11th, 2013

1st Round American Greyhound Derby

Afternoon

Races 8 and 9 start the American Derby's first round and they're both tough handicapping races. In race 8, we have dogs coming from stakes and dogs coming from sprints and marathons. There are also dogs who have had a little rest, which has them rounding back into form.

In the 8th race, I have to go with the 1, 2, 4 and 8. #1 WW Wind Turbines has had some sprints and one schooling race to sharpen her for this route contest and I think it will put her first or at least in the exotics at the wire.

#4 Cry Concho just missed in his last two and won 3 sprints with very good times before that. I expect him to break and be vying with the early leaders, if not leading. Whether he can carry it to the wire is the question.

#2 GoodLuckSterling is another dog who has been schooled after a third and four straight wins, three of them at 660 yds. If he gets the lead, there'll be no stopping him.

#8 SNJ Black Porter can't be counted out in a route. Although he seems to be struggling lately, he may show the form that made him so formidable last year.

In the 9th race, my pick for the winner is #5 Fuzzys Old Fox. This greyhound can win from any part of the track and will NOT be denied when there's any chance at all that he can beat the pack. With a good win in a recent schooling race, he should be ready to rumble.

The question is, which of the other dogs will be chasing him? I can make a case for every one of the other 7, but I'm going to pick the 1, the 6 and the 7 to round out the super.

#1 Kiowa Jordan Dav has three firsts at this distance in very competitive races. #6 M Cee Drive and #7 Roc A By Spinoff are both switching from sprints to routes and should show some good early speed. I expect this to be a fast paced race with a lot of contention.

The first round of the American Greyhound Derby continues in the first 3 races on the Evening program at Mardi Gras.

The 1 box is a good one for routes and in race one, #1 Moms Hellion could take advantage of it to win this race. He can break and has been running sprints, so he should be quick out of the box. #5 Santa's Clifton is also quick to get out there and is coming off a 7 and a half length win, so there could be fireworks between these two on the lead.

I expect #7 Gs Cosmo and #3 Pretty McKenna to be in for pieces of the exotics also.

In race 2, there are 4 dogs coming off wins and two that have been sharpened with sprints. This race is very hard to figure, and I'm torn between #1 Santas Clark and #2 Girl Name Sue, a Tri State invader, for first. #6 Leon Vance, consolation champ in his last race at Naples, should be in the mix along with #8 Majesta Drive.

In race 3, #1 Atascocita Hoop has to be considered. Winner of the Naples-Ft Myers Derby on March 2nd, this greyhound managed to win from the very tricky 6 box in a route race. If he can do that, he may be up for the challenge presented here.

His competition includes #3 Kiowa Jordan Rae coming off sprints and #5 Charmedbytheking coming out of marathons and a decent schooling race. #7 Smokey Joe coming from AA at Gulf could also be there at the finish line.

In other stakes news, don't miss Bluff's Run's $60,000 Team Survivor Stakes Round 1 on Wednesday.