Introduction
The Greyhound has the eyes of a philosopher and the soul of an ancient hunter. So old is the breed that the origins and true meaning of its name have been lost to history. The word grey was corrupted from something—perhaps “to gaze” or “that which is great.” Unfortunately, we may never know why the dogs were labeled grey hounds. What is certain is that the Greyhound has walked beside us from the beginning of recorded history and is a companion not just to individual humans but to humankind.
During the mid-nineteenth century, Americans imported Greyhounds to help control the spread of jackrabbits, which were destroying crops throughout the Midwest. Soon after the dogs’ arrival, coursing clubs began to form, and in 1886 the American Coursing Board was founded as the first national coursing registry in the country. In October 1906, the National Coursing Association—renamed National Greyhound Association in 1973—was established using the registration records from the by-then-defunct American Coursing Board.
The actual sport of Greyhound racing as it is known today was the brainchild of Owen Patrick Smith, an inventor who spent years developing a practical mechanical lure system. In 1919, O. P. Smith opened his first racetrack in Emeryville, California, with a mechanical lure that weighed some 1,500 pounds. Known as the Blue Star Amusement Company, the racetrack lay on the outer fringes of Oakland and rarely drew a crowd of more than three hundred spectators.
In our technological age of highspeed this and drive-through that, the one thing that can still touch the human spirit like nothing else is the special bond between people and their dogs. Simplistic in nature, it is ancient and powerful.
Running lighter than air, Iowa-bred L’s Main Event is just seconds away from earning his first win at Bluffs Run Casino. Roughly a year later, he matured into a grade-A racer at the Dubuque Greyhound Park in Dubuque, Iowa.
Without pari-mutuel wagering in place, the sole purpose of the racetrack was to exhibit the sights and sounds of Greyhounds in full flight, with profits generated entirely by gate receipts—a way of operating that would never be repeated by future racetracks. After the 1921 season meet, Smith’s first and short-lived racetrack was understandably relegated to history.
In 1921, Smith opened four racetracks in Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Oklahoma. The Mid Continent Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was the first financially successful operation. Incredibly, to find enough Greyhounds to actually race at the Mid Continent Park, Smith was forced to drive from one local farm to another in an effort to round up as many Greyhounds as he could.
For the small number of Greyhound owners and their canine athletes, life was anything but stationary during the 1920s. Most traveled across the country either on passenger trains or in their Tin Lizzies with luggage strapped to their roofs and a couple of dogs riding in their back-seats. Owners, fascinated by the new sport, would drive thousands of miles over dusty or muddy country back roads to reach distant racetracks, some of which were only rumored to have opened. Such was the mindset during the 1920s, when most people were able to enjoy leisure, travel, and sport for the first time in American history.
With less than three dozen Greyhounds available to race at almost any given racetrack during the time, many races had only two dogs competing against each other—essentially a match race. Most Greyhounds raced at least twice a day, with the winners pitted against each other until one dog remained unbeaten. Sometimes as many as six dogs would take to the racetrack at once, being released from an early version of the starting box with doors that opened vertically.
Despite the initial scarcity of competitors, Greyhound racing began setting down firm roots in the country, which allowed it to survive not only the turbulence of the twenties but also the depredations of the Great Depression and the demands of World War II. In January of 1945, the director of War Mobilization and Reconversion closed both Greyhound and Thoroughbred racetracks throughout the country to save labor and critical materials for the war effort. The sport of Greyhound racing entered the 1950s as an established, albeit localized, spectator sport. In 1950, twenty-seven racetracks in seven states—as well as one in Tijuana, Mexico—hosted seasonal racing meets that lasted for several months each year.
During that same year, the Hartwell grading system was employed for the first time at the Cavalier Kennel Club, situated in Moyock, North Carolina. The grading system, named after its inventor, Paul Hartwell, assigns Greyhounds to a specific grade—A, B, C, D, and so on—that ensures a Greyhound with certain speed abilities will race against other Greyhounds of the same skill level and ensures fairness by giving each racer an equal number of starts. Although some racetracks have tweaked the procedures of the grading system, it remains in use today.
Throughout its storied history, the sport of Greyhound racing has evolved from a collection of dusty racetracks peppered over several states to a national industry that spends great resources on the care and welfare of its canine athletes. Welfare guidelines created by the National Greyhound Association cover nutrition, housing, kennel cleanliness, exercise, and health of Greyhounds. To enforce its welfare guidelines, the NGA sends unannounced inspectors to breeding farms annually.
From the onset of racing in 1919, owners began to employ the practice of selective breeding in an effort to create the fastest dog possible. As a result, the racing Greyhound slowly but surely morphed into something different from its canine forefathers and even from its contemporary American Kennel Club relatives bred for conformation.
The actual practice of selective breeding is an inexact science, as Greyhound breeders will freely admit. But as the old saying goes, “like tends to beget like.” With nearly a century of selective breeding to improve attributes such as good health, athletic fortitude, confidence, and intelligence, the racing Greyhound known today is an extremely healthy breed and also a wonderful pet that has found its way into thousands of homes throughout the country.
The racing industry has formed numerous positive relationships with adoption organizations; with their combined efforts, the goal of a national 100 percent adoption rate is being realized. Currently, out of around 26,000 Greyhounds registered each year, roughly 20,000 are adopted to private homes and another 4,250 are returned to breeding farms to either bring in the next generation or live out their lives as pets. Thanks to the efforts of adoption volunteers and support from the racing industry, the retired racing Greyhound is now accepted by the American public as one of the best house pets a family can own.
With a dark brindle coat—a color of wild dogs—Abby (Courtney Rush–PH, AP, TU) recreates the look of an ancient ancestor while lying in a shady Salem, Oregon, backyard. The brindle coat serves as camouflage and is a product of a gene passed on from Greyhound to Greyhound for thousands of years.
While the sport of Greyhound racing and the adoption of its canine athletes have established themselves in countries such as Australia, England, and Ireland, the concepts were born in the United States. The sport is as American as the Statue of Liberty, Cape Canaveral, the Alamo, the Rocky Mountains, or the Space Needle. Like these icons—regional yet still uniquely American—Greyhound racing and adoption is a part of our great country from coast to coast. The following chapters represent my journey and the areas to which I traveled, homes to some of the nation’s great racetracks. I encourage readers to learn more about Greyhound racing and to seek out racetracks and adoption efforts in their areas.