Alabama Kennel ready to stake its claim

ST. PETERSBURG — Alabama Racing kennel has won 915 races at Derby Lane. Not one has come in a stakes final.

That can change for kennel owner Patty Byers, whose Butch Cassidy and Tuff Miranda are among 32 greyhounds entered in the $20,000 Fall Juvenile. The first of four qualifying rounds is tonight in races 4, 6, 8 and 10. Eight dogs with the most accumulated points advance to the 550-yard finale on Nov. 8. First place pays $9,000.

The eighth annual Fall Juvenile has featured its share of upsets. Only one favorite — Uss Gazillionair in 2010 — has captured the stakes race for puppies, and the average parimutuel payoff for the winner is $17.60.

Butch Cassidy is a dog on the rise. He has won three of his past four starts, including a dead-heat victory at Grade B on Tuesday. He has only 14 starts with five wins.

Tuff Miranda, a Grade A sprinter, has seven victories from 31 starts. "Miranda is getting more used to the routine and gets excited when she goes to the track," Byers said. "She's a good breaker and holds the rail pretty well. She's a little short, but she's still young."

Butch Cassidy starts from post 7 in Race 4 (8:10 p.m.). Tuff Miranda drew box 8 in Race 6 (8:39). Both greyhounds are owned by Alabama Racing's top supplier, Sharon Williams of Sayre, Okla.

Floyd & Porter kennel, which hasn't won a stakes race since Lily Rose took the $10,000 Matinee Idol in 2013, has two of the event's top challengers: Cbj Ellen (Race 8, 9:13) and Cj's Mack (Race 10, 9:47). Cbj Ellen's current four-race win streak is the longest by any entry.

Byers came to Derby Lane three years ago from Daytona Beach Kennel Club. "My parents (Burman and Rita White) were at Derby Lane in the '60s and had a kennel," she said. "I felt like I was following my dreams (coming to Derby Lane)."

Byers suffered a personal loss on June 25 when longtime dog man David "D.Q.'' Williams, Sharon's husband, died at age 91. "He was my best buddy in the whole world," Byers said. "We were good buds for 40 years."

The Alabama Racing staff consists of trainer Jesse Fraker and assistant Shannon Shull. One of the kennel's top stakes dogs has been Drew A Winner, who is not eligible for the Fall Juvenile. He finished fifth to Call Me Ishmael in the $64,000 Sprint Classic in 2013. It is one of seven stakes appearances for Drew A Winner, another Williams-owned greyhound who has 33 victories from 156 starts.

"(The Fall Juvenile) is a different type of race," Byers said. "This isn't like the ones that have seasoned dogs, and the ones that are standing for All-American.

"My mom won a stakes race (at Derby Lane) in the '60s, and I fish a mile from where my parents lived near the (St. Petersburg-Clearwater International) airport. It would be nice to get to the final. Puppies are puppies … and anything can happen."