2015 BetAmerica Daytona 500 Invitee #6
LEE OPERA
Red Brindle Female, 62 lbs, February 2012
(Soprano Drive - Lee Devin, by Lonesome Cry)
Owner: Robert E. Gurley
Breeder: Robert E. Gurley & George R. Heise
Kennel: Lester Raines Kennel
Trainer: Michael Gerard
2014 Record: 59/35-7-2-2 Highest Ranking: 6th
Lee Opera, the Queen of the First Coast, the Darling of Jacksonville greyhound racing, becomes the second female invitee to the Daytona 550.
Her ninety mile trip south from the Orange Park Kennel Club to Daytona Beach will be the shortest of all the contestants so if a home field advantage were possible, she holds the slight edge.
Lee Opera dominated the Jacksonville circuit for the first half of the year winning over 30 races during that period. After taking some time off, Opera came back refreshed and recently regained her form and has 44 wins for the year. She is among the nation’s win leaders. Opera was the winner of two major stakes races: the Jacksonville Sprint Classic and the JGR Puppy Stake earlier this year. She also won the Sweet Sixteen Stakes as well as the 80th Anniversary Stakes.
She has won more than 60 percent of her races packing a powerful run and a tenacious mindset. She runs midtrack, not always first to the turn but most always in the mix. Opera is one of those special greyhounds that possess the rare combination of speed and grit, willing to take a bump, pass in tight spots, whatever it may be and keep on chasing.
A possible crowd favorite among the locals on race night, Lee Opera will try to take down the first National Crown and add to her illustrious resume.
