“WHIPPET RACING. ”

Hokitika Guardian, 23 July 1921, Page 4

“WHIPPET RACING. ”

(By .lames Hudson.) M AXCHFSTFK. If in a Lit iicashlie train you meet mail wearing a cap and a silk muffler, .villi a dog like a ininiatui e grey lion'Hi oi: his knee, wrapped iu a little jacket and wearing a leather muzzle, you mu't be pretty sure the man is a miner or cotton operative with liis whippet. Bob is probably going to a dog handicap, where Curly Lad, trained and fed almost as carefully and delicately as a Waterloo Cup winner, may win £lO or £2O. On the other hand, lie may lose Hob his week’s wages in bets. The racing track (behind the .Spotle i Calf) is a black cimlery stretch 200 yards long a ltd 10 broad, guarded by rails. The entrance fee is Is 3d.

Opposite the finishing point—a w hile line across the track—is the referee’s box, where the referee stoops or kneels to decide the winner. Banged alongside are 5 flags—red, white, blue, yellow , green. Dogs are yelping, bookmakers shouting, men arguing.

At the other end of the track five owners are taking jackets off their clogs and handing over the dogs to "slippers” who. crouching or kneeling on the track, will throw the ati i mills into their

stride. Filch dog wears a ribbon—red, white, blue, green, or yellow—round bis neck.

The owners retreat slowly backyards towards the finishing point, maddening the already excited dogs by waving rags to them. One shouts: "Worry it! Worry it!" Another: "Now then, Larry! Now then Larry!” Two others Mow whistles; - the tilth man wears a white jacket—all these devices to attract the dog’s attention.

Half-way down the track the owners turn and run to the finishing line, behind which they stand waving their rags. The whippets on their starting lines strain and yelp. The starter shouts: "Get ready!” The "slippers” holding the dogs by neck and tail, lift the bind legs clear of the ground.

The pistol cracks, the "slippers” throw the dogs into their stride, and off they go at terrific speed—nearly twice its fast as a man can sprint—

covering the distance in 13 seconds or

Straight for their owners they race, crossing the line often with only inches dividing them, and, seizing the rags, swing off their feet into the air. A man hoists the green flag if the green-ribbon dog lias won, and the next heat begins.

The whippet, tt cross between a terrier and a greyhound, weighs 101 b, to 101 b, but mainly the clogs are T2lb to 251 b.

A common price for a pup to-day is £5; for a grown, good dog £3O to £SO is often paid, arid occasionally much more. Training for a race usually takes three or four weeks, during which time tlie dog is carefully dieted and exercised and his weight checked. Feeding varies according to the trainer’s ideas and the dog’s taste. An egg, part of the diet of one dog a few days before a race, may not suit another. Brown bread soaked in tea or,

beef-tea is a common food; so is grilled lean meat and toast or a little boiled fish.

One diet, perhaps richer titan most, for three weeks is:—First week: Two meals a day, brown bread soaked in beef-tea. Second week: Same, with a small piece of meat. Third week: Fontounces grilled lean meat night and morning with a bit ol toast. Last three mornings include an egg and a small piece of boiled fish at night. Race day: Three ounces beef-tea and toast.