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SANDY OREGON. THURSDAY AUGUST 6 198,
The Srfndy Post
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Backstage at the greyhound races
The firs, glimpse most people ge, of the dogs at Murray
Kemp Greyhound Park is when nine white-uniformed
grooms lead the blanketed animals from the paddock to the
starting box minutes before each race
But for the 99 greyhounds who run in 11 races each nigh,
during the annual Multnomah Kennel Club meeting, the rac
ing evening starts much earlier.
A, about 5 p m each day, greyhound trainers drive their
kennel trucks through a guarded gate and park in a large
compound on the north side of the track Here the muzzled
greyhounds are unloaded, leashed and exercised around a
“ cooling o f f ’ yard.
“ The trainers generally use this area after the race to ge,
the dogs ready to go back in the truck for the trip home.”
says Walt Zornado an ex Multnomah County deputy sheriff
who runs the paddock and probably has more to do with the
greyhounds than anyone except their trainers
From the compound, the trainers lead their animals up to
the paddock The dogs are issued large brass tags denoting
their race and box position. The draws for each race are
made two days in advance After their trainers call ou, their
race and box numbers, the dogs are tagged and checked off
by one of Zornados paddock assistants
Next the dogs walk up a ramp to a platform where they are
checked for the first time by state veterinarian Walt Hardy
Hardy looks in each dog’s eyes, runs his hands down their
legs and examines their hindquarters He’ll look at their feet
later, jus, before they go ou, on the track
" I check for general sickness and for any body soreness,"
says Hardy, who performs a similar function at Portland
Meadows during horse racing season
The next stop is the scale room The dogs are weighed,
again in the presence of a state racing commission official
Kat h dog has a weigh, that is registered at the beginning of
the racing season and must be within two pounds of its
registered weigh, If it isn’t, the dog is scratched from the
race.
After they’ve been tagged, examined and weighed the
dogs are led by grooms, clad at this time in street clothes, in
to a holding area to await their race
Music — of the type on6 would hear in an elevator or super
market - is piped into the holding kennel “ I t ’s to keep the
dogs calmed down,” Zornado says, although initially the 99
caged dogs pu, up a cacophonous din.
Zornado says the fiberglass boxes are a big improvement
oyer what was once used to house the dogs until race time.
“ The boxes used to be made of wood,” he says. “ The dogs
would paw away at it and get splinters in their toes and have
to be taken out of the race. The fiberglass boxes have a
smooth surface tha, the dogs can’t dig into "
The holding kennels are cleaned, fumigated and in
spected daily
By 7 p m . the piped-in music has done its job and the
dogs in the holding kennel are relatively quiet Some have
even laid down for a nap before going out to the track It is
now lime to prepare for the first race.
The dogs are walked around a large room adjacent to
the holding kennel. Here Hardy makes his final examina
tion. running his fingers through each dogs toes to make
sure there is nothing between them that will hinder the
dog or injure it while it is running Hardy also checks that
the dog hasn't any broken toenails.
While this examination is occurring, a race official
checks the dog's markings against those listed on an iden
tification card Each dog is tattooed with a registration
number and these are checked also to ensure that the dog
is actually the one listed on the racing form
When this process is completed, the dogs are issued
their numbered blankets and are lined up along a wall for
a final check The grooms then take them out on the track
about 12 minutes before post time They are put on a
reviewing stand before the crowd, then are walked up and
down the track
I t ’s like you would do if you were a runner,” Zornado
says “ I t ’s just a warm up exercise before they get into
the box.”
Finally, a minute before post-time the dogs are put in
the starting box, the doors close and the grooms run to the
rabbi, house" in the escape turn near the finish line This
is where the lure disappears behind a cage and the dogs
will stop running
Now the fam iliar words come over the public address
system “ The greyhounds are in the starting box
Rus
ty is ready . . AND AWAY THEY GO!"
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by « »rack official and examined by veterinarian
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d weight. F in a lly. they enter a holding kennel where they rest until the call to the post
photos by Kelly James
story by Jim Hays
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