Sylvia's Swan Song

MARCH 30, 2008

A dog and a race to remember.

Every year there is the Texas Bred Showdown which is like the Kentucky Derby for dogs in Texas.
In 2007, a young female greyhound captured every heart with her brave runs. She won 17 of 19 races and led the 2007 Texas Bred Showdown wire to wire and usually won her races by many lengths. She is not a large dog but has a heart bigger than any other. To quote one of the trainers "when Sylvia is in your race you are running for second".

At the end of the 2007 Texas racing season , Sylvia was shipped to WV to race and was injured in a race there. They said it was the end of her career. Now jump to 2008, Back in Texas she looked a bit better so they gave her a try and she did not win a race, but did well enough to qualify for the consolation portion of the Texas Bred Showdown. The Consolation will be her last race. She will spend the rest of her days raising future winners.

Like a lot of others, we went just to see her one last time.


The dogs being presented for the Consolation Race, the eleven race of the night.
Sylvia is number 2 in blue...


We wonder if she knows this will be her last time on a track...

The boys run back to their "stations" after walking the dogs to the starting gate. This is where they wait to catch up with their dogs after the race is run.

The odds are shown on the board for the Eleventh Race.


"HERE COMES HARLEY" starts every race. Sylvia breaks in first place.



Sylvia goes into the lead and never slows down. She leads wire to wire , winning by 6 lengths. She does know this is her swan song and puts on a great show for the crowd. We forgot about taking any pictures for the rest of the race . Just stood enjoying the sight.

Sylvia walking back after being presented on the winners platform with the flag..

Good bye pretty girl and Thanks for the memories..You stole the spotlight tonight..


Oh, least we forget, the winner of the Texas Bred Showdown was HAVEN IS A CUTIE.
$3500.00 to the Winner