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Luck plays role in the posts for Sprint Classic

Courageous Nicky barely qualifies for tonight's feature at Derby Lane.

By BOB PUTNAM

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 10, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- Peter Barnhoorn, trainer for the Robert Thorne Kennel, said he did not have much luck when drawing post positions for Derby Lane's $85,000 Sprint Classic, the 10th race tonight.

His greyhound, Courageous Nicky, drew the No. 1 spot instead of the favorable No.8 outside post.

"But I'm not really complaining about it," Barnhoorn said.

That's because he is lucky that Courageous Nicky is in the final.

The 11/2-year-old black male had six points after the first two qualifying rounds and was in danger of being cut from the field. Tied with three other dogs for the final two spots, Courageous Nicky won a draw by lot to continue, then won the last two qualifying rounds to head into tonight's final as the points leader (30).

"I was surprised that he was struggling early, but I also wasn't surprised that he came back strong," Barnhoorn said. "He is a fast dog."

After posting the fastest time, 30.48 seconds, in 5/16th of a mile last month, Courageous Nicky broke his mark in the semifinals with 30.46.

This is the greyhound's first season of racing. He has won seven of 10 starts, including the Puppy Preview opening weekend. Two of his three losses came in the first two qualifying rounds for the Sprint Classic.

"This is a young dog and he still is trying to find his groove," Barnhoorn said. "I was concerned the inexperience would start to catch up to him, and if he didn't win the draw I thought that might be good to give him a chance to compete against some lesser competition."

Courageous Nicky is the youngest competing in the eight-dog field. His toughest competition may come from its oldest competitor.

Dominator, a 3 1/2-year-old blue brendle, had 29 points during the qualifying rounds and is in the No.8 post for tonight's Sprint Classic.

Two other contenders are Craigie Whistler (No. 2 post) and D's Jasmine (No. 5), tiedfor third during qualifying with 27 points each.

One glaring omission from this year's Sprint Classic is Greymeadow Kennel, which did not have a greyhound make the cut. The kennel had won the past three classics with Greys Flamebeau (1998), Greys Outbound ('99) and Greys Starquest (2000).

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