Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1904-10-11
DOGS BRED FOR RACING.
INTEREST IN CONTEST IN WHICH
WHlPPETS ENTER.

INTEREST IN CONTEST IN WHICH
WHIPPETS ENTER.
A Novelty in the American Field of
Sports WhIppet Racing Bids
Fair to Win Here the Same Meas
IRE of Popularity it Possesses in
England.
A racing dog, bred with the skill
and care bestowed upon racehorse,
as eager for the starters word as a
Kentucky thoroughbred, proud in vic
tory and wearing a much detected tail
in defeat, is somewhat of a novelty
in the American field OF sport, says
the New York Tribune. Particular in
terest, therefore, attaches to the eff
fort that is being made to commend
the whippet, as this racing dog is call
ed, to American favor and to win fo-
it some measure of the popularity it
possesses in England.
Royalty may contend for the Derby.
but to the poor of the English public
the whippet that WINS the Waterloo
Cup, the prize of the dog Derby, is
the object of almost as much admira
ton as the racehorse that wins the
national classic At these races for
the Waterloo Cup, held within the met
ropolitan district of London, hundreds
Of racing dogs contend for supremacy,
while the thousands of spectators wag-
er their shillings on their favorite
with all the familiar trackside ardor.
OF himself, shorn of his sporting
record and racing value, the whippet
is neither thing of beauty nor of
use. Tracing his pedigree back to
mesalliance between a greyhound and |
terrier, the whippet is in size ter
rier. but Enthusiastically of the grey |
hound family in appearance. His bus |
mess is racing, and from his earliest |
puppyhood he is trained to the dash. |
If he develops a tendency to look
about him to swerye in mis- running |
or break in his stride, his career |
is ended Faulty dog" is the name
bestowed upon him, and his value |
is less than $25. But if he has the
proper m9ttle ls9rns 10 race without (
swerving and to finish. a whippet has
a marketable value of from 500 to
5000, and no small sporting career is
before him.
Whippets are no slouches in speed. |
A crack college athlete seldom does
the 100-yard dash in less than ten |
seconds, but a whippet in good form |
will cover his course, 200 yards in
twelve seconds. Whippet racing is
conducted on lines almost identical |
with horse racing. The dogs are hand
icapped according to weight. A %
pound dog usually runs from the line,
while the heavier dogs are strung |
back of him. handicaps ranging at
from one and a half to two yards to
the pound. AS the smaller dog gets
away faster and the handicaps the
carefully imposed, whippet racing
abounds in close finishes and exciting
races.
James A. Boutelle, of Providence,
one of the few whippet trainers in
this country. supplies striking details
about the sporting blood" of his
whippets. He says:
1.-THE whippet, if he is good dog
enters into the sport thoroughly. Why,
l have dogs that, if take them to the
track and don't let them run in a
race will bite. They are wild to get
on the track. Whippets, like people,
have different dispositions, but have
some dogs that are so accustomed to
winning that if they lose a heat they
will go off hanging their tails between
their legs and shJ%ing every sign of
hating themselves. If they win. these
same dogs go galloping around full of
conceit.
THE handicapping of whippets is
the important element in the success
of their racing. They run in trial
heats, and when it comes to the final
heat you can see as pretty racing with
whippets as you could want. AS, yet
the sport is young in this country,
but across the water they take a
lively interest in it, and | think that
it is sure to have future in America"
Whippet contests in England are
popular particularly among
the inhabitants of manufacturing
cities, and frequently as many as five
hundred dogs are entered for a single
race. Trial heats, three dogs to a
race. are run off. There are puppy
races. maiden races and all the usual
details of handicaps and penalties. In
this country there have been several
attempts to introduce the sport, not
ably one by the Country Club at
Brookline but the supply of dogs was
inadequate, and after few races there
were no more dogs to try. ]. L. Ker-
nochan had a similar experience sew
eral years ago The latest attempt |
at a revival of the sport was made by
the Long Island Kennel Club at its
recent dog show at Brighton Beach,
where a number of whippets from all
over the East were entered.