EIGHT HUNGRY DOGS

Born and bred to the chase, the eight gaunt greyhounds hurtling across the three following pages are hungry—but not for the tasteless effigy of a rabbit that bobs mechanically around the track in front of them. Racing dogs, like those pictured here springing from a gaily numbered starting gate at Greyhound Park in Phoenix, Ariz, are competitive machines, capable of speeds of 30 miles an hour. From the first turn, where experts say the race is won or lost, to the last stretch, when the finish is in sight, the dogs' inbred—and only—interest in the affair is to get there first, and in palatial greyhound racing parks from Miami to Portland enthusiastic and optimistic dog fanciers every year pepper pari-mutuel machines with $335 million worth of bets saying that they will or that they won't.

THREE PHOTOS

JOHN G. ZIMMERMAN