L.L.’s Doug

Greyhound racing fans from Boston to Caliente, Mexico, will remember you, L.L.’s Doug, as the first greyhound to seriously challenge Indy Ann’s all-time win record. Throughout your career, which spanned five calendar years — from your official start in December 1966 to your retirement in 1971 — you won 128 races, only nine short of the record.

Bred and owned by LL. Franklin and leased by Vern Renslow, your career started at Caliente, where you also earned most of your 128 wins.

But let it not be said that L.L.’s Doug didn’t race against the best.

In 1967 you traveled to Revere, Mass., and raised some eyebrows by running second in the Wonderland Derby.     You ended the year as the North American win leader with 42 wins, and your accomplishment earned you a spot on the All-America team.

In 1968, you picked up where you had left off and earned an All-America honor.

In 1969, now a veteran racer, you traveled to the southeast to challenge Florida’s best. You ran second in the Biscayne All-Florida and captured a major championship, winning the Irish-American, a stake which ran over two distances. Later that year, you also ran second in the Biscayne Derby. By December, you had won 42 races and missed the win title by one victory.

Not only did you make the All-America team a third time, but you also were made captain. Your final victory came on Feb. 6, 1971, with win No. 128.

Your name appears in the pedigrees of some of the top runners in the country. One such is Ben G Speedboat (winner of the 1986 Greyhound Race of Champions).