Nov/December 2011, Features

Craigie I Am Jak wins Fall Sprint

By Vera Rasnake   Tue, Dec 06, 2011

Each spring and fall the NGA holds the weeklong nationals in Abilene, KS. A smorgasbord of events is presented and includes pricing sellers’ promising pups at unbeatable bargains. Each meet one or more buyers brag of their delightful deals after the auction. 
Last spring one such deal was made when John Boyd of OK accepted the bid of $2,500 from James Edgar of FL for Craigie I Am Jak. The red brindle male was born on January 4, 2010 and is the son of Lonesome Cry and Craigie Crimson. Jak was sent to Derby Lane to Campbell Greyhound Racing kennel and trainer Brandy Glaspey. 
Jak debuted at the end of the Derby Lane meet boasting six money finishes in eight official starts by the end of June. He stormed the new meet in July winning his first three starts over the 550-yard oval. Jak’s c rowd-pl e a s ing racing style is a fan favorite. The youngster is a slow starter who is often nowhere to be seen until the backstretch. The strong male creates his own lane powering his way to the finish, as he picks off his rivals one-by-one. Craigie I Am Jak has brought back the excitement of greyhound racing, especially when he is matched with fleet-footed rivals. 
Craigie I Am Jak made quite an impression when he scored top points during the qualifying rounds of the $50,000 Fall Sprint against the seasoned athletes. The fierce finalists included Aerial Battle--the oldest in the stakes. The Capabal kennel star known as the “comeback kid” returned for a final stakes before retirement. Aerial Battle clocked the fastest time of the Fall Sprint series (30.41) and finished second high in points with 51. Battle’s kennelmate JW Titleist, who was whelped from the same dam Abita Cruzin, had “top dog” bragging rights at the time of the stakes. 
Last year’s Fall Juvenile champion USS Gazillionair of the Raines kennel made the cut, too. The male is also a dual distance athlete that won this year’s Rotary Governor’s race (550). Jak also competed against St. Petersburg Derby champion Storm Rush (Hambleton Racing), who has a similar racing style. Storm Rush’s early speed kennelmate Manicotti Manny was a second Hambleton finalist. 
AHK Colormegone (Abernathy) carried a 10 of 11 in-the-money record to the final. She was the second of three females in the stakes. D’Arcy kennel’s Sand Cloud was considered the sleeper in the race and was the third of three females. 
Sand Cloud was the first out of the box, but was tangled up in a first turn jam and fell. Gazillionair was shutoff early and faded in the backstretch followed by Colormegone. The veteran Aerial Battle put up a good fight against the younger stronger Jak. Battle led in the backstretch, but couldn’t hold off the “power pup,” as Jak passed Battle in the homestretch. “He (Jak) is a real nice pup,” said James Campbell in the winner’s circle. “Jak will be our entry in more stakes races.” 
The Edgar’s were in attendance to relish in the victory of their champion. James who selected the male at the NGA, his wife Tammy who co-owns Jak with daughter Michelle Edgar and trainer Glaspey were among the smiling faces. And it was discovered through the wonders of social media that Michelle Edgar and James Campbell, who are engaged, met on January 4th– the same date as Craigie I Am Jak was born. 
At the time of this article Craigie I Am Jak made the first cut in the $20,000 Fall Juvenile stakes. The pup has his eye on the prize. The race final will be held November 12. Jak has won 12 of his 32 starts to date and boasts 28 of 32 money finishes. At this time it is undecided if Jak will course the longer run for the 660- yard Challenge stakes in December to close out the year.

By Vera Rasnake

Since 1978 I have been tutored by the most respected leaders in the industry at tracks in WV, WI and FL. As Media Relations Director and Company Spokeswoman I have a unique opportunity to share my passion for the sport. I have written hundreds of feature stories and taken just as many greyhound photos. My articles have been published nationally and internationally. I have been a color analyst on Sky Network at the Irish Derby multiple times and on America’s Night of Stars. I am also a former Greyhound trainer.

I am proud to call Derby Lane home, which is the most established Greyhound racetrack in the nation since 1925. I have met iconic kennel operators and watched the greatest greyhounds of the past decade including Dominator, Talentedmrripley and Flying Coal City-all historic award winners. I have written and produced videos used to honor industry people and Greyhound athletes at the Greyhound Hall of Fame and coordinated track shots for the Born to Run and Ensuring the Welfare of the Racing Greyhound videos. I have coordinated major film projects at Derby Lane including Animal Planet’s "Breed All About It", Oceans 11 and baseball’s Carl Crawford’s commercial. I coordinated all of the media for the world’s biggest Greyhound stakes in 2005-2006 when Derby Lane hosted the Million Dollar races. I am also a GPA volunteer. I have two grown daughters, a granddaughter and a racing greyhound. I am blessed with endless energy and share a home in FL with two retired Greyhounds. You can follow me as topgreyhound on twitter and read Vera’s News at www.derbylane.com.

Contact me vera@derbylane.com