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That Cheetah looks relaxed before the race ,giving the greyhounds a headstart :) What price on the Cheetah to Win?
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Cheetahs will not race, they prefer to follow the leader. It was tried once at White City maybe.
I think they managed to get a cheetah to race a greyhound at Romford in the 30s. Bit of a no contest - the cheetah did 340m in 16 secs. Cheetahs are too clever to chase a bit of plastic. Also if it was real meat they would jump the fence and cut the corner!!
http://www.vaguelyinteresting.co.uk/the-great-romford-and-harringay-cheetah-races/
And the initial crowd response and press attention seemed promising. In the first race involving a cheetah, a female called Helen was instantly proclaimed ‘Queen of the Track’. The Times reported that: “Helen raced against two greyhounds but did not appear to like their company a great deal, for she left them far behind and made them look slow. She covered the 355 yards in 15.86 seconds, easily a track record, and at a speed of 55mph.”
The crowds were astonished, and the article went on to report that: “Most people had never seen a cheetah. At first people were apprehensive, but the moment the trap opened they were amazed by the flash of the cat. They were just so fast and, if you looked round all the mouths were open.”
In the second of the cheetah races, two males, James and Gussie, were set to race against each other. To add to the excitement, hurdles were added to the track. Gussie decided to ignore the obstacles and instead leapt the inner barrier to cut the corner in pursuit of the electric hare. Was this the first sign of some of the problems that cheetah racing would bring?
The animals had, in fact, been brought to Britain twelve months earlier. During the intervening time they had acclimatised and been trained to chase the hare. A hint at the problems to come was seen in this training period. The cheetahs weren’t particularly interested in a mechanical hare. Strap a decent chunk of tasty red meat to its back, however, and the big cats suddenly took note.
The cheetahs were also difficult racers to gauge: if the hare was released too early, the cats quickly caught it and devoured their speeding treat. Release the hare too late and the cheetahs were frustratingly reluctant to do anything.
A more disturbing trait only became apparent at the first races. Greyhounds could be relied on to race the entire track and scream through the finish line. Betters could get odds on dogs to finish first or second, or to place. Cheetahs were immune to the demands of the Tote. If one of their number took an early lead, the others would stop – sensibly saving their energy if selfishly denying the crowds their thrill.
And the initial crowd response and press attention seemed promising. In the first race involving a cheetah, a female called Helen was instantly proclaimed ‘Queen of the Track’. The Times reported that: “Helen raced against two greyhounds but did not appear to like their company a great deal, for she left them far behind and made them look slow. She covered the 355 yards in 15.86 seconds, easily a track record, and at a speed of 55mph.”
The crowds were astonished, and the article went on to report that: “Most people had never seen a cheetah. At first people were apprehensive, but the moment the trap opened they were amazed by the flash of the cat. They were just so fast and, if you looked round all the mouths were open.”
In the second of the cheetah races, two males, James and Gussie, were set to race against each other. To add to the excitement, hurdles were added to the track. Gussie decided to ignore the obstacles and instead leapt the inner barrier to cut the corner in pursuit of the electric hare. Was this the first sign of some of the problems that cheetah racing would bring?
The animals had, in fact, been brought to Britain twelve months earlier. During the intervening time they had acclimatised and been trained to chase the hare. A hint at the problems to come was seen in this training period. The cheetahs weren’t particularly interested in a mechanical hare. Strap a decent chunk of tasty red meat to its back, however, and the big cats suddenly took note.
The cheetahs were also difficult racers to gauge: if the hare was released too early, the cats quickly caught it and devoured their speeding treat. Release the hare too late and the cheetahs were frustratingly reluctant to do anything.
A more disturbing trait only became apparent at the first races. Greyhounds could be relied on to race the entire track and scream through the finish line. Betters could get odds on dogs to finish first or second, or to place. Cheetahs were immune to the demands of the Tote. If one of their number took an early lead, the others would stop – sensibly saving their energy if selfishly denying the crowds their thrill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc8Hno4M0Qs
look at the amount of pastern put down ,unbelievable ,the hocks and pasterns are
producing the tension to the tendons , power is mostly from the rear .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01sghp1
these pictures are excellent and show a very loosely jointed flexible spine ,power is front and back ,four wheel drive.
here is Cheetah in slow mo ,rotary gallop for full speed but they kind of switch to front wheel drive to home in and catch ,perfect machines imo .
the only cats a like .
http://vimeo.com/79088843
They have a massive liver which stores the glycogen which help feed the engines but the downside is a lactic build up that stops them in their tracks very quickly they can only hit full power for about 15-20 secs and must kill before the 30 sec point .
40% of their hunts are unsuccessful ,hence the track cheetahs not chasing if they think they cant catch ,they are programmed to quickly process their odds chance of being successful before they turn the blower on ,they must conserve their energy for the best opp .
look at the amount of pastern put down ,unbelievable ,the hocks and pasterns are
producing the tension to the tendons , power is mostly from the rear .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01sghp1
these pictures are excellent and show a very loosely jointed flexible spine ,power is front and back ,four wheel drive.
here is Cheetah in slow mo ,rotary gallop for full speed but they kind of switch to front wheel drive to home in and catch ,perfect machines imo .
the only cats a like .
http://vimeo.com/79088843
They have a massive liver which stores the glycogen which help feed the engines but the downside is a lactic build up that stops them in their tracks very quickly they can only hit full power for about 15-20 secs and must kill before the 30 sec point .
40% of their hunts are unsuccessful ,hence the track cheetahs not chasing if they think they cant catch ,they are programmed to quickly process their odds chance of being successful before they turn the blower on ,they must conserve their energy for the best opp .
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