Kiowa WW Brother turned it up a notch at just the right time.
Back in early August, Wayne Ward Kennel operator Julia Ward called trainer Ron Otto and asked him if he thought they had a greyhound who could win the $100,000 Wheeling Invitational in October.
“At the time, I told Julia flat out I didn’t think we had a dog who could win it,” Otto recalled.
A lot can change in 2 1/2 months.
Last Saturday, Kiowa WW Brother made a strong statement when he romped to a 7-length victory against a talented field in the final of the Wheeling Invitational. It was the richest stake event at Wheeling Island since 2002.
“Brother was a nice dog when he broke in earlier this year, but I never expected him to turn out the way he has. I guess I underestimated him,” Otto said. “He’s turned into an exceptionable greyhound. It makes you feel good as a trainer when you see a dog develop into something special.”
Brother, a July 2006 greyhound out of Flying Penske-WW Gale Finance, grabbed the early lead in the stake final and never looked back in his dominating victory. Wayne Strong Kennel’s Kansas Buzzer took runnerup honors while another Wayne Ward Kennel racer, Seldomscenetears, was third.
Completing the final field were Makin Bakin (Charter Kennel), fourth; Flying Mancini (Flying Eagles-Miner Kennel), fifth; Gable Twinkie (Gable Kennel), sixth; Flying Westover (Flying Eagles-Miner Kennel), seventh; and Pal WW Wendy (Wayne Ward Kennel), eighth.
Ward was thrilled with Brother’s stake victory.
“It was pretty exciting. Our whole family was watching it on the Internet,” Ward said from her Kansas home after the race. “We are so proud of Brother. He is better than we expected.”
Otto has had greyhounds make stake finals at Wheeling during his tenure as head trainer for the Wayne Ward Kennel, but he had not tasted victory since WW Accelerator won the Labor Day Classic in 1999 and Ruff Running captured the Firecracker Classic in 2000.
“It’s a great honor for Brother and it was very exciting, but winning the big one was more of a relief. We hadn’t won a stake final at Wheeling in quite awhile,” Otto said. “We’ve had some chances, but luck hasn’t been with us.”
Brother was a bit unlucky himself in the final of the Panhandle Sprint in early September. He broke in the top three, but was crowded in the first turn and finished fourth.
The powerful sprinter stepped up his game after Ward’s conversation with Otto back in August. Since that point, Brother has made the final of two stake races and had 10 wins, 2 seconds, 1 third and 1 fourth in his next 15 Grade AA starts.
“I think Brother knew we were talking about him and a few others were listening too,” Ward said. “Different dogs develop at different rates and Brother developed at the right time. It takes a special kind of dog to run and win stake races and it looks like Brother’s one of them.”
In the final of the $100,000 Wheeling Invitational, the post positions were: 1-Pal WW Wendy, 2-Gable Twinkie, 3-Kiowa WW Brother, 4-Makin Bakin, 5-Flying Mancini, 6-Flying Westover, 7-Seldomscenetears, 8-Kansas Buzzer.
“A couple really nice dogs – Braska Omni and Silver Jones – didn’t make the final but it was a solid field, especially with Flying Mancini in it,” Otto related. “She is one of the fastest greyhounds in the country and she proved it with a track record in the semifinal round. She’s a wonderful dog.”
Otto was pleased with Brother’s post position as well as his other two dogs in the final.
“I liked Brother’s draw a lot, but he had to get out of the box. Actually, I was pleased with the post positions of all three of my dogs,” Otto said. “Mancini was still the dog to beat if she was on top of her game.”
During the post parade, Brother was “all business. He was shining, he looked great,” Otto said. “He looked like he was ready to roll.”
Ready to roll indeed.
At the break, Brother broke sharp from the three hole along with Pal WW Wendy from the rail and Kansas Buzzer from the eight box. With a big, power rush, Brother gained immediate control going to the turn with Buzzer a stride behind on the outside.
“I couldn’t have drawn it up any better,” Otto said. “Brother had the lead down on the rail where he wants to be and Buzzer was on the outside where he wants to be.”
Flying Mancini, the race favorite after going through her three qualifying rounds undefeated and breaking Lewis and Wax’ track record with a time of 29.34, broke slow but was able to move up into third heading down the backside behind Brother and Buzzer.
Makin Bakin, the oldest greyhound in the field at 3 1/2 years old, was fourth followed by Flying Westover, Seldomscenetears, Pal WW Wendy and Gable Twinkie.
“With Buzzer chasing Brother down the backstretch, I thought Brother was a winner,” Otto said. “I did take a peak back at Mancini but she wasn’t firing.”
Ward also was feeling pretty good as Brother opened up his lead down the backside.
“I was so happy when Brother broke and once he got loose, I thought we were in good shape,” Ward said.
Brother continued to pour it on – opening up 5 lengths as he turned for home. Kansas Buzzer was comfortably in second.
“Around the last turn the race was over,” Otto said.
Brother increased his lead in the stretch, hitting the wire 7 lengths in front of Buzzer. He stopped the clock in 29.65.
“He came up with his biggest race on the day we needed it the most,” Otto said. “Buzzer also ran a big race.”
Behind the leaders, a race was developing for third between Mancini, Makin Bakin and Seldomscenetears.
Seldomscenetears, who experienced first turn traffic in the final and dropped back to sixth, mounted a furious backstretch drive. His momentum was halted, however, when he was shut down trying to go by Mancini and Makin Bakin on the far turn.
In the stretch, Seldomscenetears would not be denied as he surged by Mancini and Makin Bakin to round out the “Otto trifecta.” Ron’s brother, Ken, trains Kansas Buzzer.
“Seldomscenetears ran a huge race and gave a tremendous effort,” Otto said. “If he would have made it through the far turn without trouble, I think he may have given Buzzer a challenge.”
Brother, sent to post at 4-1 odds, returned $10 on a $2 win wager. The 3-8-7 trifecta paid $494 and the 3-8 perfecta returned $105.
Brother’s career definitely has plenty of upside.
“He’s got a huge chance to be one of the better dogs at Wheeling,” Otto said. “If things go well, I don’t see him slowing down.”
Ward said a lot of the credit for Brother’s success goes to Kay Smith.
“Kay raised and trained Brother and I only got him on the farm for the last couple months. Her operation deserves a lot of the credit,” Ward said. “Ron Otto and his crew at Wheeling also have done a great job with him.”
Otto was “glad to win one for Julia. They are very good people to work for and it was nice to win one for the Ward team.”
The personable trainer also lauded his Wheeling assistants – Chuck DiGiovanni, Kelly Nichols and Richard Taylor.
“I couldn’t do it without them,” Otto said. “I think they are three of the better helpers in the compound.”
IN THE HOMESTRETCH:
HOT DOGS: Arivada-Plum Creek Kennel’s In Your Debt has three straight Grade AA marathon wins for trainer Joe Otto. Kennel-mate Foo Fighters has back-to-back victories (C, B).
Lester Raines Kennel’s OKGO Box To Wire has won three out of her last four starts (A, AA) for trainer Joel Roden.
Steubenville Kennel’s Kiowa Miami has won three out of her last four marathon races (C, B, A) for trainer Debbie Schweizer. Kennel-mate Kiowa Juliet Kat has back-to-back Grade AA wins.
Green-Maupin Kennel’s BD’s Grayson has two straight Grade AA victories for trainer James Grace.
Mike Fynmore Kennel’s Bob’s Spectra (AA) and Blunder Thunder (A, AA) have back-to-back wins for trainer William Davis.
Charter Kennel’s Odd Fern has three straight victories (M, C, B) for trainer Rodney Cooley. Kennel-mate Ugo Lonesome Boy has back-to-back Grade AA wins.
Flying Eagles-Miner Kennel’s Flying Tanadak has two wins and a second in his last three trips for trainer Pamela Webb.
Wayne Ward Kennel’s JD Dixie Girl has back-to-back 3/8 wins (A, AA) for trainer Ron Otto.
Wayne Strong Kennel’s Bella Hembrillo has two straight victories (B, A) for trainer Dinna Otto.
Steve Sarras Kennel’s Dodgem Amber has two victories in a row (C, B) for trainer Barbara Long.
Gable Kennel’s Gable Brave has back-to-back 3/8 wins (C, B) for trainer Wayne Piquette.
Ryan Farms Kennel’s Porsche Design has two straight victories (C, B) for trainer Terry Green.
Pawloski can be reached at sjpawloski@yahoo.com