Remembering the Career of the Fabulous Greyhound of Tampa and St. Pete's-Cayman Went

On March 12th, 2001, Cayman Went was born, a fawn brindle son of Snow Bow and Faithful Message. Derby Lane and Tampa Greyhound Park would never be the same once Cayman Went had come and gone, as he would dominate that Florida west coast circuit like few other greyhounds ever have. Before he was done, Cayman Went would win an incredible eleven stakes titles at the two dog tracks combined, making the best greyhounds in the world look quite ordinary on a routine basis. And he did it in a way that, looking back on it now, was quite extraordinary.

So superior was Cayman Went in 2004 that he was named the winner of the Rural Rube Award, which goes to the nation's top sprinter, and the Flashy Sir Award, the honor bestowed on the best distance greyhound in the country. This double had been achieved only once before since the inception of the awards in 1971, by Dominator in 2000. Cayman Went made his first start at Tampa on September 20th, 2002 in an official schooling race, an omen of things to come when he romped to a twelve length blow-out victory. On October 7th of that year, Cayman Went won his first official Tampa start, breaking his Maiden with a come-from-behind effort on the 1,650 foot 5/16ths of a mile sprint distance.

Rapidly ascending the Tampa grading ladder, Cayman Went found himself in Grade A after just eight starts, and winning a top grade contest in his tenth career outing. Once he was in grade A, Cayman Went stayed there for the rest of his racing life, never falling into B, a remarkable achievement based on the tough competition he was in with. Tampa and Derby Lane have arguably the best greyhounds in the world running on their racing surfaces, but once Cayman Went got some seasoning, he was a monster racer; he won four consecutive races in January of 2003 when the meet switched to Derby Lane and made the finals of the Sprint Classic in February. There he ran a close second to Ben Awhile, and four starts later he won the Derby Lane Matinee Idol Stakes, from third in the stretch. With the Distance Classic on the horizon, Cayman Went was tried on the longer 660 yard 3/8ths of a mile.