Jim Gartland
Mar 1, 2022
West Virginia superstar CET Dirty Dilly has been voted Captain of the 2021 All American team. The annual naming of the All-America team, dates back to 1963. The program pays tribute to the top eight greyhounds nationally.
Others named to this year’s squad are: Craigie Delegate (Southland), Arkans Copper (Southland), JS Keephopealive (Southland), WW Got Rhythm (Wheeling/Southland), Killer Tolstoy (IGP/Tri-State), FGF Standin Bear (Southland) and Arkans Mabel (Southland).
This year’s second team is comprised of: Teaser's Tickle (Wheeling), Barts Spot On (Southland), Abbi's Gusta Win (Wheeling), AD Black Falcon (Wheeling), JS Slush Fund (Wheeling), Arkans RB Taz (Southland), Casino Boogie (Southland) and KL's Colter (Southland).
Heading up this year's team is it's Captain, CET Dirty Dilly (SH Avatar-CET Dirty Nicki) who was the National Win Leader, won multiple stakes and set a track record. Perhaps the most steady and consistent greyhound racing in 2021, Dirty Dilly won 42 races during the year capturing the WVGOBA Sprint and the $100,000 Tri State Challenge along the way. In September, she finished off a ten race win streak by breaking the 5/16 track record. Earlier in the year she had posted a record 16 wins in a row at the Tri State oval. She would finish the year with a 55-42-9-0 record and the well earned reward as Captain of the 2021 AA team.
Craigie Delegate (Superior Panama-Craigiecrushnit) Breaking in at Southland in late 2020, Delegate went right up the grade ladder and was winning AA by early February of 2021. In May, he captured the Spring Futurity and followed that up with a victory in the Southland Derby in August. He put together win streaks of 5, 5, 8 and 6 and then picked up the Darby Henry Male Sprint Championship during the Festival of Stakes in October. He was the Southland win leader with 27 wins despite missing the last month of racing. His final stats would read 45-27-6-4.
Another Southland star, Arkans Copper (Flying Hydrogen-Arkans Jazzy), makes the team coming off a 14 win season and winning of two Southland stakes; The Darby Henry Female Championship and the Kind & Queen's Stake. A consistent performer, Copper hit the Trifecta in 32 of her 45 starts and was a threat each time she went to post nearly always as a pre race favorite. Her last win came on November 12 but she still managed a 45-14-8-10 record for the year.
JS Keephopealive (Superior Panama-CH Keepin Faith) makes the 2021 team as another dominant sprinter from Southland. The red fawn female made the finals of the Southland Derby, Great American Futurity and the Female Sprint Championship and won the Hound Madness Stake. Won five of six rounds each in the Futurity and Hound Madness stakes. She was able to garner 21 wins in 41 starts, good for 2nd most at the West Memphis track. Keephopealive finished the year making the trifecta in 29 starts going 41-21-5-3 on the year.
WW Got Rhythm (Superior Panama-WW Oh Baby) broke in at Wheeling in March of last year and quickly moved up the ladder to AA. He was then shipped to Southland and took right to the West Memphis track with two wins and two place finishes in his first four starts. The youngster would compete in Southland Derby qualifying and then go on to a dominant win in the Barry Baldwin Juvenile on Festival of Stakes day. The youngest of this year's team, he recorded 5 wins at Wheeling and 15 at Southland which are included in his overall record of 40-20-7-1.
Coming off of a 2020 2nd team All American nod, Killer Tolstoy (Superior Panama-Killer Torina) makes this year's first team after a successful year in which he competed at three different tracks and collected a win in the Iowa Breeder's Cup Championship at Dubuque. His year started off a bit sluggishly at Southland where he managed only a 2nd, 3rd and 4th in seven starts there before heading back to his home turf in Dubuque. He settled right in and only missed the pay sheet in 7 of his 35 starts as well as collecting the big check for the Iowa Breeders Cup. He would move on to Tri State after the IGP season where he would go 10-3-1-2. His overall record for the year was 52-17-11-6.
One of two distance stars to make this year's team, FGF Standin Bear (SH Avatar-FGF Jamboree), joins the team off of a stellar 2021. He would make the finals of the Razorback Classic and the Middle distance Consolation on Festival day as well as set a new track record for the 660 yard distance in June, winning by seven lengths in 36.11. A crowd favorite, he went off at odds of more than 3 to 1 in only two of his thirty nine starts. His 14 wins would put him in the top ten at Southland despite missing the last month of the year. His final record was 39-14-3-3.
Arkans Mabel (My Bro Fabio-Arkans BD Spring) is another Southland distance star and the second of two for the Darren Henry operation making the 2021 team . Racing almost exclusively at 660 yards, Mabel captured the Middle Distance Championship on Festival day and finished 2nd in the Razorback Classic to her kennelmate Arkans RB Taz. She would reel off six wins in a row and eight of nine at one stretch on her way to a 4th place finish in the win standings at Southland. She finished the year at 44-16-5-8, a 65% in the trifecta percentage.
These eight represent the 1st team and will be honored with All-America plaques at the Greyhound Hall Of Fame awards ceremony on Thursday night, Apr. 28, during the NGA Spring Meet in Abilene, KS.
Mountaineer Classic Champ, Teaser's Tickle (Bella Infrared-Beautiful Tease) leads the Second Team of All-Americans. She charted a 21-9-2-1 record after breaking in at Wheeling in August including her $100,000 Mountaineer Classic win.
Barts Spot On (KC And All-Barts Imashowoff) makes this year's 2nd team after a fabulous year at Southland continuing where he left off in 2020. He won his first seven starts of the year. He made the finals of the Southland Derby and Male Sprint Championship and finished tied for third in wins at Southland with a 42-18-7-2 record despite missing an entire month of racing due to injury.
Abbi's Gusta Win (Superior Panama-Abs Almighty) finished tied for 2nd in wins at Wheeling despite missing almost three months of racing due to various setbacks. He put together win streaks of 5 and 3 and was a betting favorite in nearly every race he ran, rarely going off at more than three to one. His final record was 36-19-7-2.
AD Black Falcon (SH Avatar-Hey Hey Mamma) was a distance star at Wheeling in 2021 becoming the win leader at the track with 20 wins, all at 3/8ths of a mile. He started the year off going 9-2-1 in his first 12 starts. He ended the year going 12-6-2-3 prior to being injured in early December. His final tally was 51-20-8-5.
Shannon Henry's JS Slush Fund (Superior Panama-JS Speedypebbles) makes the 2nd team as one of the best from Wheeling in 2021. Breaking in late in 2020, Slush Fund moved right up into AA and was consistently one of the best sprinters at the track finishing tied for 2nd in wins with 19. She finished in the trifecta 66% of the time going 50-19-8-6 on the year.
Arkans RB Taz (Craigie Whistler-Arkansportabella) owned by Rachelle Henry & Rashad Boyd is the oldest member of the 2nd team and was a super distance runner at Southland winning the Razorback Championship and making the finals of the Middle Distance Championship as part of his 13 win season. He also finished second 12 times and had an overall record of 42-13-12-7.
Southland standout Casino Boogie (Djays Octane-Bella Release) was one of the best distance dogs at Southland last year, winning the Ansel Styles Marathon Championship and, in December, broke the track record for 703 yards, a record which had been set by his kennelmate and fellow 2nd team member KL's Colter in August. He was equally tough at 660 yards and ended the year with a record of 42-13-5-11.
Completing the 2nd team is the aforementioned KL's Colter (Pat C Clement-KL's Christy). Another star at longer distances, Colter ran mostly marathons while piling up 17 wins in 38 starts and finished 3rd in the Ansel Styles Marathon. He set the track record for the distance in August at 39.07 only to see in broken later by his kennelmate. He finished the year at 41-18-9-4.