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Never count Gemstone out

Mighty Gemstone may become the next fan favorite at Wheeling Island.Big closers in distance races and fantastic finishes have a knack of drawing the attention of racing fans.Velocious Dash had it. So did Fanatic Jasmine and DC Homey Drive. Dogs you can never count out of a race even when all looks lost.Since moving to the backside in mid-August, Mighty Gemstone has produced several scintillating come-from-behind efforts that have fans asking when does she race again."I absolutely love to watch Gemstone run. I think she'll be a fan favorite if she's not already," Thorne-Abrahamson Kennel ...

Magic Penny Ante captures $115,000 American Derby

It was a magical night for the Haber Kennel racing family.Magic Penny Ante made sure of that.The much-traveled Penny Ante finally won the big one as the Wheeling invader shot to the front early and never looked back in capturing the $115,000 American Derby at Twin River (formerly Lincoln) last weekend. She raced out of the Kerry Hills Kennel.No More Loving (DQ Williams Kennel) took runnerup honors while favorite Lovely Sonia (DQ Williams Kennel) recovered from a slow start to grab third.Completing the final field were Bad Influencecat (Pat Dalton Kennel), fourth; Flying Mancini (EP's ...

Davis Shining at Ball State, but main target out for season

The gridiron won't look the same this week for Ball State quarterback Nate Davis as he looks down field not seeing his main target Dante Love. Ranking No. 1 among receivers in yards per game entering last week's contest, Love suffered a sever injury causing medical personnel to stabilize his spine will not be seeing the playing field again this season."Dante Love suffered a cervical spine fracture and spinal cord injury which required surgery to stabilize the fracture. He is currently moving all four extremities." Dr. Jay Matchett, Ball State team physician and orthopedic surgeon, ...

Don’t be so quick to write off Monroe

The Monroe Central Seminoles were written off by many early in the season when they began the campaign with a three-game losing streak. Don't look now, but the Seminoles have now won three in a row and are doing impressively.The thing to keep in mind about the Seminoles is they are just a few plays away from being 6-0. While, that's not the case we understand, but they lost in overtime loss to Crestview in the opener; they led Shadyside in the second half and had River on the ropes."We knew going in that our schedule was going to be tough," said Monroe veteran head coach Jay Circosta. ...

Strong field assembled for $100,000 Invitational

It's showtime.Some of the best sprinters in the nation are ready to rock 'n' roll.A field of 40 greyhounds will go to post Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the $100,000 Wheeling Island Invitational. It's the track's richest stake event since 2002.The second round is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 8, and the semifinal Monday afternoon, Oct. 13. The championship final will be held during the Saturday matinee card on Oct. 18.Director of Racing Ben Travis' goal was to make the Wheeling Invitational "one of the top stake races in the country this year." He has succeeded - ...

St. John football on the right path

The St. John Central Fighting Irish have to be the story of the prep football season thus far.Coming into the year, most had the Irish pegged for another long season.Three wins might have even been a stretch for most to grant the Irish of Coach Scott Holt.The Irish are now 3-4 on the season, and while the playoffs aren't in the equation for the Irish the fact that they've won three straight games is something to build on."Obviously, our kids have played a lot better fundamentally than they have in the recent past," Holt said. "I am most proud of how they played against teams of equal ...