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Derby champ seeks 3rd straight win

But Boot Scootin Gal has tough competition in tonight's season-ending race at Derby Lane.

By BOB PUTNAM, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 29, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- Bonnie Schlicht could not keep it a secret anymore.

The 61-year-old trainer decided to get a tattoo of the greyhound she has trained the past three years, Boot Scootin Gal.

"I haven't really told anyone about that," Schlicht said of her tattoo plans. "This is the first time I've ever considered getting one. That's how much I love this dog."

That is a bold statement from Schlicht, who has trained greyhounds 35 years, the past three with the Mendheim kennel.

By qualifying for her third straight St. Petersburg Derby, Boot Scootin Gal has made history. Tonight she can add to her legacy by becoming the first greyhound to win the 3/8-mile race three straight years.

"I just think she's about the best dog I've ever come across," Schlicht said of her black female. "I've been around other great dogs before, but they were more flashes in the pan. Scooter's been real consistent."

Boot Scootin Gal's biggest wins have come in the Derby, the stakes race held each season on closing night.

She won in 2000 and 2001, becoming the third greyound and first in 48 years to win the race consecutive years.

Boot Scootin Gal has run in the top two grades (A and B) in 221 of her past 237 starts at Derby Lane, quite an accomplishment considering the dog turns 5 years old in September. And she has placed in the top four in 114 starts, including 64 wins.

Boot Scootin' Gal is in the eighth post for the Derby, the 10th race tonight. Her biggest competition will come from Talentedmrripley, who has won 28 of 33 starts this season and has become a fan favorite at the track.

Talentedmrripley belongs to Bahama Mama kennel, which leads the standings with 237 wins, four ahead of Greymeadow.

A win by Talentedmrripley tonight would be his second stakes victory this season -- he also won the Distance Classic on March30- and could give Bahama Mama the top kennel trophy.

Boot Scootin Gal never has beaten Talentedmrripley, but she has come close.

In one of the qualifying races for tonight's Derby, Boot Scootin Gal broke ahead before Talentedmrripley bore down on the backstretch to win.

Schlicht has tried to break the spell by encouraging Boot Scootin Gal to flirt with Talentedmrripley.

"I'll parade her (Boot Scootin Gal) around Mrripley and say, 'Oh Ripley, this is going to be your new wife,"' Schlicht said.

That is just part of Schlicht's schtick. The trainer also is known for color coordinating her outfits based on which post her greyhounds draw, handing out marshmallows and placing sunflowers and necklaces around the hounds' necks.

But the tattoo is a first.

"I haven't decided where I'm going to get it on my body," Schlicht said. "Maybe I'll just get it right next to my heart."

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