Artex Pumbaa earns best sprinter; JS Comin Undone earns best router
Apr. 29—As is tradition for the end of the National Greyhound Association's meets, the Greyhound Hall of Fame hosted their annual celebration for the winners of the All-Star, best sprinter and best distance awards.
This year marks the first year of changes for the awards. The hall will be naming dogs for the All-star team instead of the All-American team; the best sprinter award instead of the Rural Rube Award; and the best distance award instead of the Flashy Sir Award. Jim Gartland, director of the NGA and board member of the hall of fame, said the hall of fame decided to change the awards given out to respect past winners and acknowledge the current landscape of greyhound racing.
"Imagine if the NBA was down to the Denver Nuggets and the Utah Jazz. There wouldn't be much of an All-Star team, and there wouldn't be an MVP, and that kind of thing. We're down to tracks, that's the reality we face, but we felt it was important to still recognize the best greyhounds in America that we could, so we're going to do that the best way we can."
For the 2023 All-Star team, the greyhounds selected were: — Artex Pumbaa (captain) with a 51-22-8-6 record — JSP Rayzendacash with a 54-22-4-9-5 — Florentine with a 58-21-11-8-6 record — Tenacity with a 50-21-1-5-6 record — JSP Burninmoney with a 49-34-6-4-1 record — CET Dirty Dilly with a 26-23-2-0-1 record — CG's Sun Storm with a 34-24-6-3-0 record — JS Comin Undone with a 37-19-5-4-2 record
Abilene's Shannon Henry raised three of those dogs: JSP Rayzendacash, JSP Burninmoney and JS Comin Undone.
"To say I'm blessed is an understatement. I want to thank Lester (Lester Raines) and Jimmy that ran the dog for me, my family, you all here," Henry said after the recognition for JS Comin Undone, the third and last dog she raised on the All-Star Team.
Artex Pumbaa was labeled as the best sprinter for 2023. He won the award by tying for the most wins with 22 at Wheeling Island track in West Virginia, for finishing 82% of the time in the money, and his 51-22-8-6 record. The dog is owned by Joe Frey and Rachelle Henry and raced by Blanchard Kennels.
"If I was drawing up a dog for Wheeling, it would not be Artex Pumbaa. 84 pounds, mid-tracker. He's not great at anything, but he's good at everything. I think that was his secret and so successful at Wheeling." said Jame Blanchard of Blanchard Kennels.
JS Comin Undone won the Best Distance Award. He won 19 races despite missing races for over a month. He finished 2023 with a 37-19-5-4-2 record, including a winning stretch of five races.
For more about these dogs, go to www.ngagreyhounds.com.
