Palm Beach Weekly Wrap Up 6/12/2016

The greatest super sprinter of all time retires and the season wins championship remains razor tight.  Another week of super stories to follow at The Palm Beach Kennel Club. With less then 3 weeks left in the racing season, there is still a lot to decide. Lets get into it.

Season Wins Chase Standings (Track Championship)

Ethel Is Here - 27 Wins

Atascocita Camry - 26 Wins

Barts Dublin - 26 Wins

After months of following this chase and how ultra competitive it has been this season, it now comes down to three greyhounds who can take home the championship.

The Derby Champ Ethel Is Here from the Janie Carroll Kennel continued her strong return after a well deserved South FLA vacation by throttling her competition in Tuesday's Matinee, winning by 8 lengths.  She should get at least 2-3 more starts before the season wraps up on June 30th.  It's real simple....if she doesn't lose the rest of the way, she is your lone Track Champion.  If she does stumble in one of those starts, Camry or Dublin could potentially grab a share of the title since there is no tie breaker in this chase.

It is interesting to note that Dublin and Camry have run nearly 20 more starts this season each then Ethel.

"The Luck of The Irish" Barts Dublin from the Douglas Kennel was solid in Saturday's Matinee, roaring back for the 30 secs flat win.

Atascocita Camry from Suncoast Racing showed once again why she has the most dynamite box fire at Palm Beach by having just enough gas to hold off the field as well in Saturday's Matinee.  If Camry isn't matched up with Ethel, Omega Point or Fraulein Morgan heading down the stretch, it's going to be very tough to bet against her.

"The Fox Retires"

Another week and another mega superstar hangs up his muzzle.

Kb's Like A Fox from Rader Racing officially called it quits on Friday after one of the most storied racing careers in the history of greyhound racing.  The all time wins leader at Palm Beach with an unbelievable 90 wins set the standard for super sprinting. Fox held the super sprint track record twice during his career and was a fixture at Palm Beach from 2013 until now.

Palm Beach has already indicated that Fox will have a Wall of Fame star put out in front of the Club as soon as possible.  No matter what your opinion is about the 301 yard racing distance in the sport, there is no denying that Fox was the greatest of all time at it without debate.

Fox will be honored on July 4th during the Independence Day Matinee.

The Return of Shorty & Bullet

This week was exciting for fans of superstar greyhounds, as two of the most well known racers around returned to action.

In Saturday's Matinee, Pat C Short Cut from the world famous Koppe, Staats & Collins Team made his first start in three months, finishing a solid second.  The National Championship representative from Palm Beach last season is one of the most powerful greyhounds in the sport when he is on.  I know many fans around the globe (including myself) will be very interested to see if "Shorty" can return to top form as we head into next season.

Sunday marked the return of track record holder Speeding Bullet. After taking nearly a year off after last years 28.92 secs blazing run, Bullet won his schooling start in solid fashion.

If you remember from last year, Bullet broke the record previously held by Rob Gronkowski, becoming the first greyhound in Palm Beach history to eclipse the 29 second mark.  Bullet in an even more shocking story immediately retired after his next start for breeding purposes.  Even though this was most likely a smart financial move at the time,  fans will always wonder what could have happened if Bullet would have stayed in the game.

We'll now get to see if Bullet can show any more greatness in his return to "The Beach." He just turned three years old, so there should be some solid racing still left in him. One thing is for sure, next season just got a whole lot more interesting.

Cha Ching

Palm Beach went all out for Belmont Saturday's Matinee/Evening cards and they were handsomely rewarded to the tune of $1.1 million dollars in Handle.  The leader and best in the industry continued to show that if you promote the sport right and give the people an outstanding show, they will fill your pockets.  Kudos to all involved for a tremendous day of racing all around and giving the people what we want.

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