Deep Rooted Origins

The greyhound has its origins deep rooted in the lands that cradled earliest civilization. He first flourished in a countryside of little herbage, where he hunted and relied on speed to escape enemies.

Murals and paintings suggest that a dog strikingly similar to the greyhound of today was around some 4,000 years ago.

As a vital hunter, the greyhound has been the subject of art and lore through out the ages. He was the source of sport and entertainment in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome and later in England and Ireland. Pharaohs rated them first among all animals, both as pets and hunters.

The birth of a greyhound in early Arabian culture was second in importance only to the birth of a son. Persians believed they were the only dogs allowed in the next world and privileged enough to give information and evidence against mankind.

Cleopatra fancied them as much as she did her lovers, perhaps to the chagrin of Marc Antony and other Roman suitors.

They are the only canine breed mentioned in the Bible (Proverbs 30:29-31), and it’s a most complimentary reference at that.

The Roman Empire was no less impressed by greyhounds, making them the subject of much art. Before that, the Greeks carved greyhounds on their coins, which was only fitting because they coined the name "greekhound" from whence came the word "greyhound". The name certainly did not derive from the animal’s coat color, which can be black, white, red, fawn, ticked, blue, any of the half-dozen shades of brindle, or almost any combination of these-but never gray.

As civilization migrated to the British Isles, the greyhound lost none of his stature. There is documentation that greyhounds were in England as far back as 3,500 years ago, and a 1959 uncovering of the Avebury Stone Circle, Europe’s largest prehistoric monument, revealed a skeleton of a greyhound-like dog. An Old Welsh proverb proclaimed that you might know a gentleman by his horse, his hawk and his greyhound. Saxon tribal chiefs often were given greyhounds among state gifts of honor.

Greyhounds even became implicated in military politics. When King Richard II was captured in the Castle of Flint, his pet greyhound, Mathe, immediately ran to Richard’s bitter rival, the Earl of Lancaster (later Henry IV), and licked his hand-a positive gesture of betrayal.

The darkest chapter of the greyhound’s history unfolded in medieval times, when in the year 1014 Canute became King of England and enacted the Forest Laws. These statutes included a clause that said only noblemen could own and hunt with greyhounds. Merry Old England was hardly merry for the poor commoner who heretofore had relied on game caught by greyhounds to feed his family. Every 40 days violators were brought to special courts where they were fined or, if they refused to snitch on neighbors, flogged and tortured.

Sometimes a peasant’s silence cost him a hand or a foot at the chopping block. His greyhounds were then either mutilated so they could no longer hunt or, if royal color (white or predominantly so), given to the nobility.

These brutal persecutions somehow endured for centuries. The more hideous section of the Forest Laws were finally abolished in the 1700s by Queen Elizabeth I, a die-hard fan of the breed who would later initiate the first formal rules of greyhound coursing. Little wonder that greyhound racing, championed its fundamental form of hunting and coursing by such female royalty as Cleopatra and Queen Elizabeth, is known as the Sport of Queens.

Migrated to America

Greyhounds found their way to America pretty much the same way we people did-out of necessity more than anything else. Millions of pesky jackrabbits, with appetites bigger than the Midwestern breadbasket they scourged, were eating farmers out of house and home back in the late 1800s, until someone wisely suggested that greyhounds could be the farmer’s salvation. Ireland and England soon after exported all the four-legged exterminators the farmers needed and the greyhound quickly-as is his nature-took his rightful place in American history for helping tame the west.

Thus, the greyhound became a common sight on farms in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

America’s competitive spirit led to the discovery that greyhounds were also a great source of sport and entertainment. General George Armstrong Custer was among the many of his time to own a string of greyhounds for sport and hunting, and had he stayed with his pooches and chased rabbits instead of Sioux warriors, he might have saved his scalp.

Modern know-how and this marvelous ancient breed joined hands and gave rise to a brand new sport when in 1919 an engineer named O. P. Smith perfected a mechanical lure and successfully demonstrated it at Emeryville, California.

Since then, greyhound racing has blossomed into a major spectator sport worldwide conducted in such countries and territories as Ireland, England, Australia, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Indonesia, Macau and Guam, with many other nations eyeing its inception.

Nowhere is greyhound racing more popular than in America. Enough people-over 27 million every year-frequent North America’s greyhound tracks to make it the nation’s sixth largest spectator sport. You’ll find these tracks, complete with spacious grandstand seating and plush clubhouse facilities, in the 18 states that sanction pari-mutuel greyhound racing: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin as well as border tracks in Mexico at Caliente.

Several other states have also looked at changing present laws to allow pari-mutuel wagering on greyhounds: Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

 IT’S HARDLY A DOG’S LIFE

by Gary Guccione

Secretary, National Greyhound Association

Ten thousand eyes turn to the sleek, black pup as he tugs on his leash and steps out of the night onto a racetrack as brightly lit as any other American sporting stadium. The 72-lb bundle of coiled muscle jerks a young lead-out boy behind him-then suddenly stops. Except for a pounding heart, he stands motionless, majestically poised, ears cocked skyward, his steely eyes riveted to a spot in the backstretch. Head lunging toward the ground, he strains again on the leash, oblivious to the patrol judge who tugs momentarily on the pup’s white-tipped leather muzzle and the bright blue blanket draped over his back.

A few minutes later the pup prances into the No. 2 slot of an eight-hole starting box. A mechanical rabbit with a Styrofoam torso and button eyes whirls into action in the backstretch, picking up speed as it swings by the starting box. Then-

"They’re off!" shouts the announcer, as the black pup and seven other purebred greyhounds charge out of the box in hot pursuit of the lure. A roar ascends from a packed grandstand crowd, each spectator urging his favorite onward. Eight muzzled heads bob frantically, powerful greyhound muscles bulge and strain, and 32 stilt-like legs send sand flying everywhere. The speediest soon challenge for the early lead, charging down the track at 45 mph while the rest drop back to avoid jams and bumps, intent on staging late rallies.

A half-minute later it’s all over, the rabbit escaping unscratched, ready for another race. The pups, suspecting he’s a bogus bunny anyway, don’t mind at all.

That’s greyhound racing. A pari-mutuel spectators sport that entertains thousands nightly at racetracks across the country. It’s made possible by this unique animal’s nature to chase almost anything that moves, an instinct reinforced by thousands of years of linebreeding the fastest and gamest of its kind. Classed as a sight-hound (his nose is of little value, except to cross finish lines first), the greyhound is the world’s swiftest and most graceful canine breed, bred first and foremost to run. Running is his glory, his destiny-his very ecstasy.

To boot, a greyhound gets paid for what he likes doing most and paid well, if he’s fast enough. Several champion greyhounds have even won racetrack purses in excess of $250,000 and have gone on to lucrative breeding careers that might net another not-so-small fortune. In 1987, one greyhound stud (world record holder P’s Rambling) was syndicated for $500,000. The highest price paid by an individual was when Abilene’s Ed Craig sold Kinta Kinte for $100,000 several years back.

A female named Fallon (yes, the lady greyhounds are as fast as the males, though their weight is 10 to 15 lbs. less) earned $114,000 in just seven weeks winning the $77,500 Grand Prix and the $32,000 Derby Lane Distance Classic back in 1984. Not bad pay, over a hundred grand for a minute'’ work! She sold for $50,000.

After a short (and thoroughly enjoyable) night at the track, the pup returns to his kennel where 3 lbs. of raw meat and meal and a soft, warm bed await him. There is no room for junk food on a racing greyhound’s diet and some trainers only slightly stretch the truth when they say their greyhounds eat better that they do.

Because of the animal’s value, greyhound owners sneer at the term "dog" racing, preferring the more eloquent terms "greyhound" racing and "greyhound" track or park. The name "dog" with all its lowly connotations (dog-days, it’s a dog’s life, in the dog house, etc.) lends neither justice nor dignity to this incredible member of the family Canis. Quite simply, there are dogs and there are greyhounds. At least that’s what any greyhound trainer worth his salt will tell you.

The greyhound is relatively docile and extremely affectionate toward humans. One veterinarian who has worked with greyhounds for many years claims they make the best "patients" and are the breed least likely to snap at the hand that’s healing them.

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