50th Anniversary: Best to ever race Wheeling -- DD's Nelson

50th Anniversary: Best to ever race Wheeling – DD’s Nelson

DD’s Nelson is arguably the greatest greyhound to ever race at Wheeling Downs/Island and shined on the national stage as well during his racing career – earning National Greyhound Update All World Team honors in both 1986-87 and AGTOA All-American First Team recognition in 1987.

National accolades are prestigious honors, but DD’s Nelson’s story is much more. It’s about defying the odds as well as talent.

In September 1986 in the first round of the $150,000 Flagler International Classic, DD’s Nelson fractured four of the seven major bones in a greyhound’s hock. His racing career was all but written off but through a medical miracle and the heart of a champion, DD’s Nelson returned to the track in early 1987 and won three major stake races that year in Wheeling, Colorado and New Hampshire.

DD’s Nelson’s operation was performed by Dr. Jon Dee, a veterinary surgeon.

“Very, very few procedures require a three-screw surgery (which DD’s Nelson did) and come back to run well, much less reach Nelson’s level,” Dr. Dee said. “He was up against it, especially when I looked at the pre-operative pictures. The post-op film, though, looked really good – if you disregarded all that metal in there.”

DD’s Nelson’s trainer Jim Bowen accompanied his star to his stake-winning efforts in Colorado and New Hampshire.

“We had a special bond between us that could not be described. Nelson and I seemed to draw upon each other’s competitiveness,” Bowen said. “He was all heart and he had that extra desire, extra sense all the great ones have. He also was very intelligent. He not only loved to run, but he loved to win.”

DD’s NELSON’S PRE-INJURY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

-1986 Honorable Mention AGTOA All-American

-1986 National Greyhound Update All World Team Member

-Third in the $250,000 Great Greyhound Race of Champions at Seabrook, N.H. in 1986

-1986 Wheeling Track Win Champ with 38 victories (9 months of racing)

-Won 11 consecutive races at Wheeling during the summer of 1986 (track record at the time)

DD’s NELSON’S POST-INJURY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

-1987 AGTOA All-American First Team

-1987 National Greyhound Update All World Team Member

-Won 1987 Wheeling Countdown Stakes

-Won 1987 $50,000 Stroh’s All-American Invitational Sprint at Mile High, Colo.

-Won 1987 $50,000 New Hampshire Sweepstakes Invitational Cup at Hinsdale, N.H.

-Second 1987 $60,000 Wheeling Challenge Invitational (won by Hall of Famer K’s Broadway)

-Second 1987 Great Greyhound Race Consolation at Seabrook, N.H.

-Finalist (ran seventh) 1988 $100,000 Mountaineer Classic at Tri-State Greyhound Park, W.Va.

-1988 $60,000 Stroh’s All-American Invitational Sprint Invitee at Mile High, Colo. (ran sixth)

-1988 Commissioner’s Challenge Invitee at Tri-State Greyhound Park, W.Va.

-Retired in 1988 with 96 career victories as the 23rd all-time race winner nationally.

                The highlight of DD’s Nelson’s 1987 racing season was his victory in the $60,000 Stroh’s All-American Invitational Sprint at Mile High, Colo., in August – just 8 months after DD’s Nelson returned to the track from the hock injury he sustained in September 1986.

                The talented field of sprinters in the Stroh’s All-American Invitational included Frontier Outlaw (second), Say You (third), Homespun Rowdy, Ben G Speedboat, Pro’s Stormer, B’s Easy Amos and Amarillo Cajun.

                Sent to post at 10-1 odds, DD’s Nelson rocketed to the front and never looked back in romping to an 8-length victory in 31.50. His victory came 3 months shy of turning 4 years old.

CAREER RECORD – (192-96-30-25)

Wheeling – (136-80-20-16)

Hollywood – (24-8-4-3)

Seabrook – (12-3-5-1)

Hinsdale – (3-2-1-0)

Tri-State – (5-1-0-2)

Mile High – (2-1-0-0)

Biscayne – (9-1-0-2)

Flagler – (1-0-0-0)

                DD’s Nelson’s career statistics competing at eight different racetracks are mind-boggling – a 79 percent trifecta finish and a 50 percent win percentage in 192 combined starts. At Wheeling alone, DD’s Nelson hit the trifecta in 85 percent of his races and won 59 percent of his trips.

                DD’s Nelson sired 233 pups, the most notable JC’s Storm Cloud. She finished fourth in the 1993 Dairyland Derby, was in finalist in both the 1993 GROC at Dairyland and 1992 Dairyland Derby, broke the Dairyland 3/8th track record in 1993 (37.84) and was the 1993 Dairyland Top Greyhound (52-30-5-7-3).

                For those who had the fortune to watch DD’s Nelson race, their comments paint a picture of the racer’s greatness.

                Local greyhound historian Robin Reed: “I think DD’s Nelson made the biggest impact nationally of any of our hometown greyhounds in the track’s history,” Reed noted. “He was Wheeling’s first All-American and won several stakes races around the country in addition to his many Wheeling achievements.”

                Former track announcer Bart Przelenski: “Nelson was the total package, the whole deal. He had speed, power, desire and was a very smart greyhound,” Przelenski said. “People would come to the track to see DD’s Nelson race.”

                Current Wayne Ward Kennel trainer Ron Otto: “I would go to the track just to watch DD’s Nelson race. He was one of the best I ever saw,” Otto recalled. “I remember the track was packed the night they showed the Mile High stake and he crushed them. At the Race of Champions, Nelson was 10 times the best dog but didn’t have any luck.”

                Current Code Red Kennel trainer Tom Engle: “Nelson was a tank,” Engle said. “He could run against any greyhound in the country.”

(Contributing to this column was Robin Reid, local greyhound historian).