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Floyd & Porter fields strong Sprint qualifiers

By the time trainer Cal Holland Jr. boards a ship Sunday for a vacation to the Bahamas, Floyd & Porter Kennel could be on cruise control in the $85,000 Sprint Classic at Derby Lane.

By DON JENSEN, Times Correspondent
Published March 24, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - By the time trainer Cal Holland Jr. boards a ship Sunday for a vacation to the Bahamas, Floyd & Porter Kennel could be on cruise control in the $85,000 Sprint Classic at Derby Lane.

Littermates Hometown Boy and Brady Thomas are among the points leaders for owners Randy and Pat Floyd as the 550-yard event enters its third round of qualifying tonight. Craigie Judge, owned by kennel partner Lamar Porter, gives Floyd & Porter three greyhounds in the field of 16.

"It would be great for our kennel to get more than one in the final," Holland said. "The field is very strong from the first dog to the 16th-place dog."

Hometown Boy, the only greyhound with two victories, tops the point standings with 32, six more than Big Slick of Campbell Greyhound Racing and Sol Roughshod of Marriott & Rian. Brady Thomas is sixth with 19 points, and Craigie Judge is in a 14th-place tie at 14. Abernathy Kennel's Hellion, fifth in the Derby Lane Million on March 3, is 16th with 12.

Eight qualifiers for the championship race on March 31 will be determined after Wednesday's fourth round with points accumulated based on order of finish. On tonight's performance, qualifying will be Races 6 (8:51) and 10 (10:07) with Big Slick and Brady Thomas in the No. 1 boxes, respectively. Hometown Boy is in Race 6.

Hometown Boy and Brady Thomas have carried on the successful kennel tradition after whelped in April 2004 out of a second litter from Touche Baby, an Ocala-based dog also owned by the Floyds. The 1999 St. Petersburg Derby winner was ranked as the top dam in 2006 by the National Greyhound Association. The sire for the two male sprinters is the late Stan's Boy Flyer. Touche Baby's first litter included Joe Hearns, the Floyds' only All-American (2005) and sired by Craigie Whistler. Joe Hearns is now a stud dog in Ocala.

Hometown Boy and Brady Thomas have had similar careers with one exception. Brady Thomas is going for his fourth stakes win in seven tries, while Hometown Boy is seeking his first stakes triumph in two attempts. In 2006, Brady Thomas won the Gold Trophy Juvenile at Derby Lane, and the Tampa Speed Classic and Night of Stars XVIII at Tampa Greyhound Track. Another littermate, Legends Field, ran third in the Mardi Gras Track Challenge on Feb. 3 at Hallandale Beach.

Hometown Boy, the meet leader with 11 victories from 17 starts, has 38 career wins in 88 races. He holds the Tampa 550-yard track record at 30.01 seconds. Brady Thomas also has 38 victories from 86 lifetime starts, and ran a personal-best 550-yard time of 29.94 seconds at Derby Lane.

With eight victories in his last nine starts, including a career-best six-race win streak from Feb. 7-March 7, Holland said Hometown Boy is in top form.

HORSES: Sharyn Wasiluk, president of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America-Tampa Bay Downs Division, said the 15th annual Hearts Reaching Out fundraiser held last week raised $30,000. Most of the funds are used to assist Downs' backside workers.

[Last modified March 23, 2007, 23:48:06]