(left to right):
Paul Watt – Texas Greyhound Association
Anthony Edwards
Craig Edwards – Trainer, D.Q. Williams Kennel
Christina Chambers – Assistant trainer, D.Q. Williams Kennel
Kane Clement – Patrol Judge
Tameshia Brown – Paddock Judge, Gulf Greyhound Park
Nick James – Exec. Director – Texas Greyhound Association
Joe Quinn- Assistant General Manager, Gulf Greyhound Park
Click to view Need My Moneynow’s Win.
In the middle of June, thirty two Texas-bred athletes set their sights on the grand prize of attempting to win the richest stakes race offered in the state of Texas in 2015, the $10,000 Diane Whiteley Sprint Championship sponsored by the Texas Greyhound Association and Gulf Greyhound Park.
Let’s ask a question, how often does a sports team or an individual athlete overcome all of the pressure accompanied that comes along with being expected to accomplish the ultimate goal of winning? On some occasions, the expectations fall to the wayside with loads of disappointment but there are instances when the dreams actually do come true. Before the athletes even set their paws on the 550-yard La Marque, Texas racing oval, everyone knew that the one to beat was the hottest greyhound at Gulf Greyhound Park and win leader, Need My Moneynow from D.Q. Williams Kennel. Heading into the stakes competition, the 68-pound white/black son of No More Loving – Need a Date born on July 1, 2012 was riding the wave of a four race winning streak including giving a career best performance of 29.56 seconds on June 6th.
Despite all of the pressure, Need My Moneynow continued to put his skills on display for everyone to enjoy, including trainer Craig Edwards and owner Sharon Williams, by simply dominating each of the three rounds with runaway front running victories. The winning margins were 8½, 5½, and 6½ lengths respectively to extend his win string to lucky number seven in a row.
Next up was the all important post-position draw because there were still major obstacles ahead to fulfill this dream. Waiting in the wings was future Hall of Fame athlete, Sakkara Bowie from Lingle Kennel, winner of 55 races during his career at Gulf Greyhound Park and the only other greyhound to go undefeated during the three rounds of stakes competition. As the sealed envelopes were ripped open one by one, trainer Craig Edwards of Need My Moneynow drew the white colors of the #3 post position and trainer David Lingle of Sakkara Bowie drew the green colors of the #4 post position but despite most of the attention being drawn towards the top two greyhounds, there was a nervous anticipation about the wild card in the field, Miss Jakie from D.Q. Williams Kennel, wondering where the rail slashing early speedster would start from. As assistant trainer Christina Chambers revealed the plaque with the #1 post position, there was a laughable sigh of relief knowing that the favorites would have a better opportunity to run their races with a lesser chance of outside interference.
Finally on July 4th, the Championship finals had arrived as the most important thirty seconds in the history of racing in the great state of Texas was set to take place. As expected, #1 Miss Jakie broke immediately to the lead with #3 Need My Moneynow racing to her outside and #4 Sakkara Bowie on their heels in hot pursuit. Need My Moneynow managed to just clear in front of Miss Jakie around the first turn with a one length advantage and of course many thought this contest was over. Whoa! Wait a minute there partner because this was far from the truth as Sakkara Bowie had something to say about the final outcome. Flying along the rail, Sakkara Bowie made his move down the backstretch accelerating to the lead by nearly ½ length ahead of Need My Moneynow around the far turn setting the stage for one of the most incredible finishes in recent history. The two superstars made their turn for home, matching each other stride for stride, creating a roar from everyone enjoying this duel for the ages as Need My Moneynow outdueled Sakkara Bowie to win by the narrow margin of a head in a time of 29.96 seconds as the profitable even money favorite.
After completing this magical and hard fought journey, Need My Moneynow continues to build one of the most incredible records of any athlete to ever compete at Gulf Greyhound Park finishing no worse than third in 2015 with a record of 30/23-4-3-0 and career numbers totaling 65/43-8-8-3.
The final order of finish for the $10,000 Diane Whiteley Sprint Championship was 1st – Need My Moneynow (D.Q. Williams Kennel), 2nd – Sakkara Bowie (Lingle Kennel), 3rd – Miss Jakie (D.Q. Williams Kennel), 4th – Real Good Feelin (D.Q. Williams Kennel), 5th – Slatex Kristoff (Bone Man Racing Kennel), 6th – Pippi (D.Q. Williams Kennel), 7th – Tempo Romp (Meteorite Kennel) and 8th – Bob’s Cara (Currid Racing).