My Two Cents!

Holy 30 flat, Batman!

By Ken Willis
MY TWO CENTS Sports Columist
© 2010 The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Friday, April 16, 2010

DAYTONA BEACH -- Every so often in this job, you get an interview subject who develops cold feet. But a cold nose -- wet, too -- was a first.

It was hardly unexpected, however, when the sleek, muscular sprinter popped up from his nap and bounded out of his crate for a little meet-and-greet this past week. A little "Caped Crusader" tag on the collar let you know you were getting a typical dog's greeting from a not-so-typical greyhound, LA's Batman, whose wet nose recently reached the finish line faster than any other dog in the 60-plus years of Daytona Beach greyhound racing.

Two weeks ago, Batman turned the 550-yard course (that's five-sixteenths of a mile) at Daytona Beach Kennel club in 30 seconds flat. That bettered the previous track record of 30.16 set just a couple weeks earlier by Make U Look, Batman's stablemate at Daytona Beach's Waverider Racing Kennel.

The record dash highlighted a recent run of dominance for LA's Batman that includes an average victory margin of seven lengths in Batman's last five outings, all victories. He'll try to continue the current run in the 12th race of Saturday's matinee card at DBKC.

Right about now, of course, it should be pointed out that, with the exception of a shrinking niche audience and greyhound industry insiders, nobody really cares all that much anymore. Too many other gambling options these days, as well as too many years of too much bad press, which modern owners and trainers fight at every turn.

A little research shows how times have changed with the local greyhound track. Some 60 years ago, a greyhound named Real Huntsman became a charter member of the Greyhound Racing Hall of Fame due largely to his dominance at DBKC, which sat for six decades on U.S. 92 before making the short move to Williamson Boulevard two years ago. (The record at the old track was 30.27, set in 2001 by Rayvan.)

Twenty-plus years after Real Huntsman, a dog named Sand Cut became a local staple of the sports pages, to the point that former N-J columnist Joe Biddle, upon seeing Cut's career shortened due to injury in the mid-'70s, devoted a good chunk of newsprint to the greyhound. "He will be missed but always remembered," he wrote.

Some remember Sand Cut, just as some remember full bleachers at the old track and maybe a few cold ones -- between a matinee and nighttime card -- next door at Rudy's Post Time Lounge. Nowadays, you're basically looking at a poker facility with a racetrack on the side -- and only to satisfy pari-mutuel statutes.

"Unfortunately I talk to a lot of people who don't even realize we're here in town," says Todd Byers, whose Waverider Kennel houses and trains LA's Batman and 109 other greyhounds.

With 25 years in the business, Byers remains a true believer, one of those who still treats it as competition as well as business. Rightly so, since a kennel owner's pay depends on his stable's performance on race day. He talks about Batman the way a high-school track coach would talk about a late-blooming sprinter or hurdler.

"He started out slow, struggled a bit early," Byers says. "He started running a little bit for us, and the next thing you know, he's winning 'A' races for us. And the next thing you know, he's dominating. Sometimes dogs come around a little bit later. Just like athletes.

"It's physical maturity, usually, but it could be mental, too. He could feel more comfortable with the track. Some dogs are more comfortable than others when they're running around other dogs. You don't see him pass a dog coming down the homestretch. That wasn't his style. His style was either go to the front or not run at all."

Batman's third birthday comes next month, which means he should have another full year of racing in him before he's either put up for adoption or, if he's lucky and the money is right, his ticket is punched for breeding. Probable bad news for him on that front, though.

"There's so little money in the business right now, it's just not profitable anymore," says Byers, whose kennel also claimed RC's Sorceror, who retired last year after setting the all-time Daytona wins record with 101.

Meanwhile, one big goal hangs out there for Batman: breaking that 30-second barrier.

"That's tough. That's fast, says Byers, who knows the best chance would come with a track hit with rain and then hardened by a baking sun. And, as always, the typical great jump out of the box is the first order of business.

"Once he started bombing to the front more often, he got his confidence up," says Byers, again sounding like a track coach. "He would never pass, but he hasn't had to pass anyone lately."