Palm Beach Weekly Wrap Up 12-11-2016

December is shaping up to be one epic show of greyhound action at The Palm Beach Kennel Club! With the Futurity kicked into high gear and the Rhonda Course sporting some of the best talent in the entire country, this is going to be the place to watch this holiday season.

Here's the top stories we saw from the previous week at "The Beach."

$20,000 Dick Andrews Futurity Gets Underway

The kickoff to the greatest time in greyhound racing got rolling this week, with the first and second rounds of the Futurity.  40 of the best youngsters in all of South FLA are putting it all on the line for their team for the one chance to attain glory.

Three greyhounds remained undefeated through the first two rounds on Wednesday & Saturday.  They include JS Outlaw Legend (pictured) AllAboutTheFame & Tc Carlos Gomez.

AllAboutTheFame has been the most impressive of all, bringing a dynamic rush out of the box that the competition has simply not been able to handle.  Legend from owner Shannon Henry looks to have the best combo game in the tourney, as he stuck around the front of the pack in both races just long enough to steal victories at the finish line.  Gomez as noted in our preview from Wednesday does have the most experience of any greyhound running, but got the benefit of the 1 box in both rounds.

O Ya Sunflower from the suddenly surging Lester Raines Kennel was also impressive picking up a win and a place, putting her in a great position to make the Final that everybody expects her to be a part of.

Our pick to win it all Wicked Twista from the North Shore Kennel scooped up two consecutive show finishes to start the tourney.  Twista will need a win or two in the next two rounds if she is to advance to the Final the day after Christmas.

Third round action is back at Palm Beach this Wednesday in the Matinee.

The Ethel & Morgan Show Is Unbelievable

What we are seeing on the 660 Yard Pat C Rendezvous Course right now is simply incredible.  The season wins leader Frauein Morgan from the Janie Carroll Kennel picked up her 18th win of the season on Tuesday, smoldering the course in 37.66 secs.  I posed the question could anybody stop her right now?

It might be Morgan's teammate Ethel Is Here who can even come within sniffing distance.  "The Blue Bomber" put on a smoke show of her own in Saturday's Matinee, taking a 15 length lead early and coasting home for the easy victory, her 62nd all time at Palm Beach.

Match Race? Don't Count On It.

Morgan's owner Monte Jacobs texted me this week and said he'd put up $10K to see his racer and Ethel in a one on one showdown to see who truly is best.  Great idea right?  Not according to Jacobs fiance Crystal Carroll, who is also Ethel's longtime trainer.  The two raced earlier in the season with Ethel victorious and that was all Carroll needed to see.  She described them both as winners and to leave it at that.

Palm Beach hasn't had a match race since 2000 when Stan's Boy Flyer (pictured) defeated Buffalo Bur Rain in the finale of the Survivor Series.  Match races does sound fun, but don't expect to see anything other than the Super Bowl pooch predictor race which comes up in January between two greyhounds. Maybe my Detroit Lions will be a part of that race this year! (praying)

*Cbj Tootsie Roll*

Sprint Rivalry Has The Fans Buzzing

It's very rare that you see superstars in the same race against each other in consecutive starts.  Three times? That's just insanity.

That's what we witnessed this past week, as Whirlin Toodlelu from the Douglas Kennel & Cbj Tootsie Roll faced off.  Both greyhounds have been superb this season with "Toodles" scoring 14th wins good for second in the wins chase behind Morgan & 10 wins for the Tootsie Roll.

After Tootsie Roll took the initial battle last Friday, Toodlelu was able to bounce back on Thursday and score the victory over her new rival.

On Sunday, fans and myself were stunned to see the these two greyhounds were yet again matched up against each other.  I pumped up the race on social media, treating it like it was the next Ali-Frazier contest and fans were ecstatic to watch these two go at it once again.

Of course right on cue, Pat C Avon from the Koppe, Staats & Collins Team pulled the 13-1 upset, with Tootsie 3rd and Toodlelu finishing an astounding 6th.

Will these two be starting for the fourth consecutive time against each other this week? I would say no, but you never know what Track Secretary Matt Jameson and his team of mad scientists behind the scenes will come up with for our entertainment.

First Confirmed Daytona 550 Participant Announced

United Greyhound Racing announced this week that Seldom Told from Jacksonville - Orange Park would be the first Finalist for our self sponsored National Championship coming up on January 21st at The Daytona Beach Kennel Club.  UGR has promised that the field will be coming out quite quickly in the next few weeks, as we await on the invitees and whether their owners will accept the invitation to compete for the granddaddy of them all.

Still waiting on word whether a Palm Beach participant will be asked to join this field.  Superior Tyson's camp has already stated they will not be participating if asked.  This leaves Whirlin Toodlelu, Cbj Tootsie Roll, Blu Too Tarmac & Barts Big Bang as the only viable options if UGR decided to invite one of them.  For this lifelong Palm Beach fan, I certainly hope they do.

That's all we have for this week.  We'll see you next time for the Wrap Up!