It takes a while for dog racing to get going on the East Coast, but when they do, it is lots of fun.  After a long winter of lying around and enjoying those holiday treats, most of us racing dogs and sighthounds are ready to get back to dog racing.  Here are the spring events in the East.

New Jersey Racing – The Jersey Rag Racers Whippet Association and Count Basie Racing Association sponsor fun oval track meets.  Here are their spring dates.

• April 11, 2010 – (oval) in Pennsville, NJ
• April 25, 2010 – (oval) in Ringoes, NJ

New York State Racing – The Central Leatherstocking Area Sighthound Society, or CLASS as they like to be called, are hosts for sprint whippet racing in the Empire State.  Here is their spring date.

• April 17, 2010 – (sprint) in Starkville, NY

Pennsylvania Racing – In the Keystone State, the Lehigh Valley Coursing Club invites racers to Harleysville for an exciting day of dog racing in May.

• May 1, 2010 – (oval) in Harleysville, PA

Keep your paws, I mean fingers, crossed that we have fast, safe tracks for these East Coast dog races.

Feeling the Need for Speed,

- Tristan the Whippet

After a long winter of lying around and enjoying those holiday treats, it’s time to get back to dog racing and more specifically, whippet racing.  All we racing dog and sighthounds are very excited and looking forward to that first dash after the lure.  Here is what is happening out West.

Northern California – The Northern California Whippet Club and the River City Racing Association host their whippet racing meets in Sacramento, typically featuring sprint racing on Saturday and oval track on Sundays.  Here are the dates.

• March 6, 2010 – (sprint) in Sacramento, CA
• March 7, 2010 – (oval) in Sacramento, CA
• March 20, 2010 – (sprint) in Sacramento, CA
• March 21, 2010 – (oval) in Sacramento, CA
• April 10, 2010 – (sprint) in Sacramento, CA

Southern California – Racing in Orange and Brea, California, the Southern California Whippet Association and the Great Western Whippet Association also have both sprint and oval track whippet racing. Here are their dates.

• February 7, 2010 – (sprint) in Orange, CA
• February 27, 2010 – (sprint) in Orange, CA
• February 28, 2010 – (oval) in Brea, CA
• March 13, 2010 – (sprint) in Orange, CA
• March 14, 2010 – (oval) in Brea, CA

Southwest Region – Dog racing in the great Southwest kicks off in March with races sponsored by the Albuquerque Whippet Fanciers Association and the Reata Whippet Racing Group in Riverton, Utah.  The River City Racing Association is coming from Sacramento to host a very special sprint race in conjunction with the American Whippet Club event in Tucson.  Here are their dates for the dog races.

• March 6, 2010 – (oval) in Mountainair, NM
• March 7, 2010 – (oval) in Mountainair, NM
• April 17, 2010 – (sprint) in Tucson, AZ, with the American Whippet Club event
• April 25, 2010 – (oval) in Riverton, UT

With plenty of rain, the grass should be perfect for wonderful, fast whippet racing.  Hope to see you at a meet.

Feeling the Need for Speed,

- Tristan the Whippet

Hi, this is Tristan the Whippet.  I’ve been whippet racing all my life and truly love it.  If you are unfamiliar with amateur dog racing, let me tell you a little about it.

For starters, a racing dog is generally called a sighthound, or sometimes gazehound.  Racing dogs are called this because in the wild we hunt by keeping our prey in view, as opposed to dogs like bloodhounds who follow a scent.  Great speed and agility are required to hunt this way, so we have a flexible back, strong shoulders and hindquarters and a deep chest.  Think of us as the sprinters of the dog racing world.

These attributes make us an excellent racing dog.  I’m honored to say that whippets, like me, are second to greyhounds as the fastest dogs on Earth.  Also included among sighthounds are Afghan hounds,  Basenji, Borzoi, Ibizan hounds, Irish wolfhounds, Italian greyhounds, Magyar agar, Pharaoh hounds, Rhodesian ridgeback, Saluki and Scottish deerhounds.

Let’s get one things straight about whippet racing.  We race for sport, for the love of the chase.  There is no betting, and the vast majority of us dogs are family members.  Think of us as teenagers involved in track and field.  It is all about winning ribbons and titles for the family.  In case you are wondering, I was awarded the title Race Champion by the North American Whippet Racing Association, or NAWRA, in 2008 and tied for 12^th place nationally in 2009.

We organize under several national racing organizations and many local clubs.  The primary whippet groups are NAWRA, the Whippet Racing Association and Continental Whippet Alliance.  The Large Gazehound Racing Association is for non-whippet sighthounds.  These dog racing organizations promote straight track or sprint racing.  The National Oval Track Racing Association, NOTRA, sponsors somewhat longer races on an oval track.

These dog racing national organizations are supported by a network of local clubs and associations that host race meets and encourage the growth and improvement of fun, safe, fair and competitive dog racing in the U.S and Canada.

Another competition is called lure coursing.  While I must admit that I don’t compete in lure coursing, it is an exciting sport to watch.  In this type of dog racing, dogs chase the lure over a zigzag course and winner is chosen based on a combination of time and points.  The primary sponsoring organizations are the American Sighthound Field Association as well as the American and Canadian Kennel Clubs.

There you have a primer on my fun, exciting sport.  CLICK HERE for information on race meets in your area.  I’d love to see you at a meet.

Feeling the Need for Speed,

- Tristan the Whippet

Retirement shouldn’t be about ending, it’s actually new beginnings.  When I retired over a year ago I wasn’t exactly sure what “new beginnings” lay ahead.  I could never have guessed what was to come.

A pet seemed like a good idea for a new beginning, specifically a dog…maybe a whippet.  What was not in the plan was for this couch potato to turn my life upside down.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We decided to get a whippet, ideally a whippet in need of some sort of rescue.  While visiting family near San Bernardino, California, about 500 miles from home, a trip to “just look” not surprisingly ended with the adoption of the sweetest, most loving 42 pound boy you have ever met.  Tristan is his name.

While we were told he “really loves to race,” this was not evident since he slept most of the eight-hour drive home and pretty much took over the couch, one overstuffed chair and the entire middle half or our bed.  All indications were toward sloth, not speed burner.  Boy were we wrong about this whippet.

Sometimes called “35 mile-per-hour couch potatoes,” whippets know only two speeds: full out and dead stop.  Having seen the couch potato part, we discovered Tristan’s love of speed when we attended a race practice.  Upon seeing the lure, this quiet, docile dog became a maniac, seeming ready to rip my arm from the shoulder.  The first time we saw him dart from the boxes and chase that lure for real, we were hooked.  This is a very fun sport, for dog and for owner.  And yes, whippets are the second fastest dog being able to achieve 35 miles per hour within a few steps.

Since that first heart-pounding experience we have joined the local race club, traveled to Seattle for the National race meet and learned how much a vet charges for a whole list of ailments.  Keeping this race champion in shape has been a plus for me as I am now getting a 3 mile daily walk most sunny days.

We are very proud of our little whippet.  At the North America Whippet Racing Association (NAWRA) national meet he place 17^th out of over 75 entries.  He tied for 12^th place in the 2009 NAWRA race point standings.  These sorts of bragging rights don’t come often to retired guys who thought he was getting a pet.

At four and a half years old, Tristan still has a couple of more good racing years.  Then he and I will just have to find other interests to keep us active, young and healthy.