Dogs, racing results, and frequent commentary shared the front page of the sports section with stories about the New York Giants in Sarasota for Spring Training and the golfing exploits of Bobby Jones. Price, won, competing the 5/16-mile race ahead of Sarasota Boy, owned by Owen Burns, and Oakland Hook, owned by Hal Yohe, one of the Kennel Club's vice presidents.įor the rest of the season, the Herald covered the races. The Special Sweepstakes matched dogs of three local owners, who paraded their dogs before the audience prior to the race. The Burns Cup race was made possible by the donation of a loving cup prize by Owen Burns III, well-known Sarasotan. Two of the nine races were of special interest. The kennels housed 165 dogs, including 'some of the fastest canine racers in the county.' The opening races were on the evening of Tuesday, February 9, 1926. Parking for hundreds of cars and three ticket windows were highlighted to underscore the capability of the facility to handle a large crowd. Shortly before the first race, the sports writer for the Sarasota Herald wrote in florid terms about the 'palatial grandstand,' the last minute flurry of activity to ready the quarter-mile sand oval track and the expectation of the largest sporting crowd in Sarasota's history. In the fall of 1925 a number of men associated with real estate development helped organize the club and build the track.
