Mesa Racing, Inc.

Happy Memorial Day!!; some racing updates

Happy Memorial Day!! It's glorious to be an American and especially so this weekend.
As a combat veteran this holiday resonates with me more than any others.
I know exactly what it takes to keep us free and am sure we all share that sense of pride and duty in our country

Mesa Adellhphia, Trent Lee-Jr's Sable, won Grade C at Raynham for owner Jim Jackson.
This litter started off with a major bang but has not progressed the way I expected.
They are nice useable pups at major tracks but I thought there were a couple of potential superstars in the mix.
Mesa Budget, Oneco Spirit-Mesa Meadow, won another Grade A for owner Joe Watson and his kennel at Ebro.
Mesa Alphabet, litter sister to Budget, closed up strong to finish 2nd in her Grade C effort at NFM.
Alphabet was about as strong as Budget when we first sent them to the track. But Budget has proven herself to be the better racer.
My plan is to breed Alphabet when she retires so it will be interesting to see which one produces better

This week I'm going to address a couple of issues that have come up.
Not sure what day I'll write it but I'm concerned about some things and want to get them off my chest
Loyalty is one thing I'll be addressing. It's a two way street between you as buyer and me as breeder/seller. Not sure why some folks don't get that
Who I am willing to do business with is will be another topic
When to come to me for advice on breeding or buying when they are not Mesa dogs is another.
And what putting a deposit on a preborn litter means
I might have to break them down over a couple of days but I will address them all

Nahishka wins maiden by 6 1/2; Kiowa Pella Spot breaks maiden by 14 1/2!!

Nahishka, Coldwater Keelin-Fuzzys Tea Party, a Mesa bred dog owned by John Lowe, broke maiden at Flagler by 6 1/2 lengths. The youngster has struggled to find his way there in previous starts.
His mama is a litter sister to Fuzzys Braxton and a half sister to Fuzzys Cannon.
So I figured the litter would have some run in it

Kiowa Pella Spot is not a dog I bred. But I did have the good sense to buy his mama after the fact.
She is now in TX awaiting her next beau.
This pup is 82 pounds and racing at Wheeling. He recently went into a maiden race with a record of 5-0-2-0-2.
In this race the big lad got loose and it was "katie bar the door". The KST-Flying Pella (she is a half sister to Flying Stanley) got out and won his maiden contest by a whopping 14 1/2 lengths!!
Darn nice pup.

Mesa Gina wins back-to-back races; Delite smokes 'em in personal best time

Littermates Mesa Gina and Mesa Delite, Stans Boy Flyer-Karmic Destiny, have had a fine time this weekend!
Delite won her Grade A by 51/2 lengths in a personal best time of 29:64 for owner Frank Bean
Gina, owned by Bruce De Gilio of Port Charlotte, FL had me concerned, to tell the truth. She went from running Grade B and trying to move into the top spot to grade drops back down to Grade D. I was like the nervous uncle of the bride!  LOL
But Gina showed what kind of stuff she is made of when she got back into gear and won her D and C back to back. And she won the C by coming from behind. That's pretty special considering this is actually a speed litter.
Taylor Swift, owned by young Skip Potter, ran a nice 2nd in her Grade C at Derby Lane
Mesa Budget, Oneco Spirit-Mesa Meadow, got picked up in the stretch to settle for 2nd in her latest Grade A contest. Budget is owned by Joe Watson and runs in Joe's kennel at Ebro.
Mesa Bethann, Craigie Whistler-Tnt Stardust, qualified at WD this weekend at 3/8ths
Mesa Bounty, Lonesome Cry-Jr's Sable, onwed by Tomas Lindh, qualified at Wheeling

Slammer male SOLD

The Oshkosh Slammer-Dress male has been sold! Congrats to Curt Johnson of Detroit on his purchase.
Plans are continuing for the Greyhound, who is in training, to proceed to complete his education with the Hays family in Waco.

a new DUE SOON

I've finally got a female in season.
JNB Goodtime Gal, three time semi finalist in Jacksonville area stakes in 2004 has come in season.
She is booked to be bred to Dodgem By Design, now America's NUMBER ONE SIRE.
The pups will be whelped at Gay Friedli's farm in Kansas.
Reserve yours quickly because they'll not be available for long.

Mesa Budget, Mesa Temperature, Mesas Advantage

Mesa Budget, Oneco Spirit-Mesa Meadow, is now racing at Ebro. The reason is that the owner, Joe Watson, has a kennel there and wants to see his girl run.
Under the care of trainer Sarah Lucas Budget has compiled a record of 4-3-0-1. She'll continue to race at Ebro until next season at Melbourne when Joe will reopen his booking at that track

Mesa Temperature, Tempo Petrocelli-Mesa Cyndi, dominated her J race yesterday at Palm Beach Kennel Club
 Grade: J Distance:  545 Condition: Fast
Mesa Temperature   61    4  1  1  1     1  1     1  1     30.23   4.80  Held Command, Ins  
Worlds Apart       58    5  2  2        2        2  1     30.30   9.00  Solid Contender, Ins
Guerilla Radio     59.5  3  3  3        4        3  5.5   30.60   9.00  Good Effort, Inside
Midnite Spark      71    1  5  4        3        4  5.5   30.63  10.00  Good Attempt, Inside
Dw Willow          58.5  6  8  8        6        5  9.5   30.91  40.00  Bmpd Erly Gaining Lt
Sobe Pretty Doll   57    7  6  5        5        6  11    31.00  14.00  Steady Pace Til Late
Cityscape          59    2  7  7        8        7  13.5  31.19   2.50  Collided Early, Ins
Whats The Skinny   74    8  4  6        7        8  14.5  31.24   1.20  Lost Ground Thruout

Mesas Advantage, Lonesome Cry-Dress Up, finally ran out of the money the other day at Victoryland. Prior to that start Advantage was 19-6-4-6-1. Advantage is owned by Frank Bean

BB Be Cool pup sold; Mesa Freedom wins maiden by 8

The BB Be Cool female pup was sold to a family who knows VERY well what Dress Up daughters can do.
The Darryl Lummus family of Colorado owned Hustle and Flow from Dress Up's Lonesome Cry litter.
Hustle was a littermate to VL stakes racer Mesas Advantage.
A major injury on the track ended her career and disappointed the Lummus bunch. The family used to gather around to watch Hustle on Saturdays...a Greyt tradion, by the way.
So when Darryl saw that Dress Up had a black female by Oshkosh Slammer he rallied his troops and they bought her to replace Hustle, though nobody will ever replace Hustle in their hearts.
Now the family wanted another Dress Up girl and decided on the young BB Be Cool daughter out of her.
Congratulations to the entire Lummus family!! We hope this one is a champion for you!

Mesa Freedom has had a tough start to her career. The Lonesome Cry-Mesa Cyndi daughter just started out bumpy.
But since moving to the Lewis Walker kennel in Mobile she has started to come into her own.
Her maiden win by 8 lengths sure made her look like a star, cheap track or not.

congrats to Mesa Bethann on her 3rd place finish in the Sarasota(3/8ths) Derby!

Wow, another MESA stakes finalist. That makes three in the last couple of weeks with two of them cashing tickets in finals!!
On Sarasota's closing night Mesa Bethann, Craigie Whistler-Tnt Stardust (a litter sister to Star Wars), racing for the Steve Sarras kennel, grabbed a piece of the pie with the show finishers check.
Bethann has now made the semi finals of two stakes and the finals of another.
She is headed to Wheeling Downs to try her luck with the big dogs in distance racing.
Congrats to owners Kent, Gary and Scott and Steve Sarras.

couple of winners; a little more musings on Abilene

Mesa Tempo surged in the stretch yesterday to win his "J" easily at Palm Beach. Like I've said repeatedly, he is going to be a nice distance dog. He is owned by Jim Jackson
Mesa Alphabet, Oneco Spirit-Mesa Meadow, won her C handily at NFM. I own this one and she is for sale. She has to stay with the WR Kennel at NFM

I promised some more observations...and lots of opinions, mine only...from the NGA meet so here goes:
*the NGA leadership, and that includes the Directors, seem reluctant to address the necessary cost cutting needed in salaries in management.
They have not replaced clerical employees when there was an opening but Gary refuses to address the fact that while the membership is struggling under new fees, declining membership, AR issues and everything else he needs a Lieutenant. Personally I don't want to see anyone lose a job. But more importantly I don't want to see us lose our sport. It's time to cut some of the highest salaries in the NGA office. And why are we providing anyone a company car? No more live racing in KS. Definitely nobody in the NGA office is going to Topeka on a regular basis. Only major corporations provide a company car. Others provide for car allowances so that the employee is taken care but cost to the employer is workable
ONE Director started the discussion about head cuts and a battle ensued in the board meeting. Nobody else jumped in even though I spoke to several directors before the nationals to express my concerns.
I'm not going to tell you the name of the Director you need to thank for looking out for your interests but you might want to thank HER by giving her a call or email. You can figure it out
* it's pretty clear that breeders and trainers have ebbs and flows. It's also clear when you attend meets that success can be cyclical for some. Please be sure to keep a close eye on your pups and broods no matter what farm they are on. Things change and you need to be vigilant. Don't just assume your dogs are getting the best of care year in and year out. Pay attention
* for those of you who are small breeders, don't try to prove someone's unproven stud unless you want a litter of pets. Proving stud dogs is expensive. So if you didn't recently win the lottery stick with the Top 20(or close). We don't want to lose anyone to bad financials and we sure don't need more pets
* I have read several books on lots of subjects. I read a few NFL books last season. That doesn't make me a professional football player. Consider that when you are taking advice from some of these jokers on the internet. If they haven't bred dogs successfully take their advice with a grain of salt. And NEVER let a studmaster tell you what to breed your female to. Those folks are busy. They are also biased (and should be) in favor of their own studs. It's YOUR litter so do your own homework.

Look, I've been doing this for almost 3 decades. I know I don't have all the answers so I ask guys I know whose opinions I respect. But they are all also breeders and/or owners and have firsthand experience in Greyhound racing
You don't have to take my word as gospel, I'd think you a fool if you did. But ask good, knowledgeable people when you want an opinion
I wish you the very best of racing luck. For me it's not the money, it's the love of the Greyhounds and the love of the sport. I sincerely hope you come to experience the same joy I've known