Miss Whirl

Many people think you were the greatest female racer ever. You certainly earned their respect. From your racing debut on July 1, 1964, you were obviously the stuff that champions are made of.

You won your first race the way you won so many- by seeing trouble on the track early and avoiding it. This ability caused many people, including your owner, Ralph Ryan, to label you the smartest greyhound of your time.

Although you raced at a petite 54 lbs., you were a giant in the racing world. Your first season at Sarasota, when you won six and ran second in three of ten races, was the beginning of a truly amazing career.

You were named to the All-American team an astounding three times. In two of these years, you were the team captain. The only year you were not part of the team was your maiden year, 1964. However, you were picked for honorable mention on the team. You held the distance records at Wonderland, Flagler, Sarasota, and Tampa. You won numerous stake races, including two Flagler International Classics, three Central Florida Derbies, and a Tampa Inaugural. In 1965, your 45 wins in 67 starts gave you the national win title.

When you retired because of an injury in 1967, you held two of the most prestigious records for the greyhounds of your time: 115 career wins and more than $108,000 in career winnings. You were the first greyhound ever to earn more than $100,000, and your record would stand for more than a decade. At the time of your induction into the Greyhound Hall of Fame, your 15 career wins ranked you fourth in the list of all-time race winners.

Yes, Bon Bon, you were truly a champion, and you will forever be honored as one of the great ones in the Greyhound Hall of Fame.