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Sunday, December 17, 2000

Dogs running again at Valley race park
New owners take business gamble, bring shut-down greyhound park back to life
By Megan K. Stack
Associated Press
HARLINGEN - Straining and yearning, the dogs burst from their boxes and dash after their bait. At the rim of the track, the men holler, "C'mon, baby." Inside, the money moves and the beer flows.
   It could be 1994, back before Harlingen's Valley Greyhound Park collapsed under the pressure of dwindling profits. The towering stands and sandy track stood desolate for six years.
   Now the dogs are back. Under the care of new owners, bolstered by the television "simulcast" of horse and dog races from other tracks, Harlingen's greyhounds sprang back to the chase Friday night.
   "We've been waiting for this for a long time," said Chuck Zebrowski, squinting at the dogs.
   The track calls Zebrowski a "fan educator" - he calls himself a "betting buddy." He deciphers the dogs' statistics, interprets the squirms and gazes of the greyhounds when the track workers march them in front of the eager gamblers.
   "Are they aware and twitching? Pulling at the leash?" Zebrowski says. "Are they excited because they know they're going to race?"
   Despite the excitement, some skeptics see dog racing as a fading pastime. These are days of casino ships gliding up and down the shoreline, vigorous lottery advertising campaigns and the new possibility of Internet gambling. Can the gritty, old-fashioned allure of the dog track still compete?
   Managers of Sam Houston Race Park, the Houston horse track that bought the deserted Harlingen facilities in January for $2.3 million, think the dogs are a safe bet.
   "Ask us in three months," quips Mike Vitek, vice president of finance.
   A dog track's turnaround time is fairly quick. Dogs can run at intervals of about 12 minutes, compared to the half-hour to smooth the track between horse races.
   Of course, not everybody is keen on the sport.
   "It's not a great life for these dogs," says Kent Robertson, assistant executive director for the Texas Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "To race dogs in the entertainment industry for gain is not the right thing to do."
   On Friday night, couples, college kids and children crowded the bar stools and metal benches.
   They came north from Mexico and west from Brownsville to plunk down a $2 door fee and bet on the silent flight of wiry dogs.
   The Rio Grande Valley - with its explosive population growth, scarce entertainment facilities and fairly low wages - appears apt to embrace a novel, cheap amusement.
   "For this area, I mean, it's two bucks, you can come in, sit down, have a good time," said Brian Walsh, 30.

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