If you studied the program and know the quality of top-grade sprinters in Saturday night’s December 19, Gordon Wood Memorial Feature, then the race appeared to be a close contest between about half the field before the box opened, but when the box did open and it wasn’t even close. D.Q. Williams Kennel’s Rough Hustle used the disadvantaged five-post to come out of the box strong and never look back.
Rough Hustle, a brindle male out of Dodgem By Design and Chantel Rose has been dominating fields at GGP over the last six-months, and this youngster won’t even turn two-years old until February 6, 2010. `Once he jumped out of the box the way he did, I pretty much knew it was over,` stated D.Q. Williams’ trainer Craig Edwards. `He is one fast pup and it has been a pleasure watching him day in and day out as he gets better with each race.` Rough Hustle came off as the betting favorite at $1.10 to $1.00 and paid $4.20 for the win ticket.
The Gordon Wood Memorial is an annual event where GGP puts together the best sprinters at the track in a one-race hotbox to determine the top racer, honoring the late-great Gulf Greyhound Park track announcer Gordon Wood. While the focus was on the memorial Rough Hustle put an exclamation point on the process; blasting to a seven-length victory over the rest of the field. The margin of victory was impressive enough, but Rough Hustle also clocked an astounding 29.44 over the 550-yard course.
`This was one of the best races of the year tonight,` said Ron Godfroy, GGP’s Director of Racing. `Rough Hustle had his work cut out for him tonight, and came through with flying colors, a very nice victory for the D.Q. Willaims Kennel and Rough Hustle.` The Sharon Williams owned pup is one of the hottest at the track. Look for much more of this type racing from him at Gulf Greyhound Park in 2010.
The rest of the 2009 Gordon Wood Memorial Feature field finished as follows: 2nd – Atascocita Lars (29.91), 3rd – Craigie Jags (30.06), 4th – Cry Gimmick (30.07), 5th – Cry Homer (30.13), 6th – Gable Diego (30.27), 7th – C Ya Tom Collins (30.43), and 8th – I Don’t Remember (30.59).
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