Mick D’Arcy knows how to win “The Big One”

As the 2008 Derby Lane Million looms, owners, nominators and trainers are trying to put themselves in a position to win what figures to be the biggest race in Greyhound racing history. More than ever, it will take the right combination of a great dog and a great trainer to win, because for the first time the best Greyhounds from the United States, Australia, and Ireland will be competing head-to-head.

Though it’s too early to establish a betting line, one man you might not want to bet against is Mick D’Arcy. In 2006 he won the Derby Lane Million with the fabulous bitch Greys Calibrator. Her dominance in the Stake was indisputable; she won four of the five qualifying rounds, establishing a track record in the process, before dominating her seven male counterparts in the richest final in history. Prior to that, Mick won four editions of the $100,000 Derby Lane Distance Classic, three $85,000 Derby Lane Sprint Classics, and the 1989 Wonderland Derby. To put that last one in perspective, the$175,000 prize fund would be worth $290,000 today. Most recently, he won the 2007 $120,000 Palm Beach Grand Classic with Dreamy Blossom. It’s clear Mick knows how to win "The Big One."

Unlike many great dogmen, Mick did not come from a generations-old Greyhound family. Growing up in Cashel, County Tipperary in the 1950s, however, he was surrounded by Greyhounds. As a youngster he helped out his neighbors, walking dogs and cleaning kennels. His labor earned him nothing more than a ride with the dogs to the local track twice a week. In those days going to the Greyhounds was a big night out in Ireland and Mick found himself in the thick of it. There were only two meetings a week, typically on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and Greyhounds often raced and coursed.

As his involvement deepened, he found training opportunities scarce in Ireland. Only a handful of top trainers got the best dogs. By the early 1970s, he and his partner Steven Corcoran co-owned dogs in England to get started in the business, graduating from dog ownership to training. In 1977 he returned to Ireland.

In 1985, with training opportunities still limited, Mick took the big step of moving his young family to the United States where he eventually settled in with Pat Dalton’s kennel at Wonderland, then America’s premier track. Success soon followed. In 1986 he won the Grady Memorial Sprint with Planet Boy*, then added the Wonderland Juvenile and Inaugural with Tipp Lad*, and the American Juvenile at Raynham with Whisper Wit*. In 1989 he moved to the Samia Kennel and won the 1989 Wonderland Derby with Rapido Gal, beating Bartie and Allegis in just her 13th start. She made the final again in 1990.

By the early 1990s, the center of gravity of American Greyhound racing had shifted to The Woodlands in Kansas City, Kansas. Mick moved there at its very peak—his dogs raced against the likes of Blendway, Bartie, HB’s Prince Red and other Woodlands stars. Most importantly, he established a long-term relationship with Kansas breeders Jack and Mary Butler, whose dogs were just starting to establish a national reputation.

The partnership resulted in a third move, this time to Derby Lane, which would really be the beginning of a racing dynasty that continues to the present day. Training for the Greymeadow Kennel, Mick amassed 20 major stake wins and four All-Americans: Greys Betsy Ross (1998), Greys Outbound (1999), Greys Free Bird (2000), and Greys Calibrator (2006). There is sure to be a fifth in 2007 with Dreamy Blossom, Mick’s own breeding raised by Jack and Mary.

What will it take to win the 2008 Million? According to Mick, Derby Lane’s legendary oval, perhaps like no other track in the world, exposes any weakness in a dog. For a Greyhound to win there, it must have a good enough rush to the turn to stay close to the front, yet have the stamina to not fade in the stretch. The success he has had with the Greymeadow dogs has often been due to their ability to win when within striking distance of the lead entering the stretch as much as winning from the front. Mick figures to have a half-dozen serious contenders when "The Big One" gets underway February 9th. If you are betting against them, you might have your money on the wrong dog, and the wrong trainer.