Bingo Learns Speed Isn’t Everything at Dog Races

I’m still marveling at what a great weekend it was for sports fans -- World Cup soccer in Berlin, Wimbledon tennis in London and Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals dog races at the Los Alamitos Race Course.

In case you missed the 50-yard dachshund competition -- I couldn’t find it on ESPN’s SportsCenter -- there were 83 hounds in the running and drama aplenty.

One owner proudly held up his dog Adebisi beforehand, only to have the animal pick that moment to relieve himself.

“Handicappers say that’s a good sign when a horse does that before a race,” noted track spokesman Orlando Gutierrez. “It shows the horse knows there’s a race and it’s taking care of business.” And Adebisi did win the semifinal.

In another prelim, Bingo, positioned No. 1 on the inside rail, shot out of the starting gate but made a right turn without signaling, severely disrupting traffic on the track.

A rival in the No. 8 slot “tripped him and [Bingo] rolled over,” Gutierrez said. “Then he got up but raced after No. 8. He didn’t win, but he was the fastest in the race. It’s just that while the others were running 50 yards, he ran about 100.”

And the winner was ... : Bingo didn’t qualify for the final, which was won by a dog named Princess Smoochy Gucci.

Somehow I don’t think Bingo and Princess Smoochy Gucci would have gotten along.

Attention, resettlers: Ex-Pasadenan Peter Jacobsen advises that if you’re thinking of leaving Southern California for more affordable digs in Sacramento, you can do better than the greenish residence he spotted (see photo).

Quick getaway: For a trip to San Francisco, says Monroe Morgan of Santa Monica, “the reservation service was kind enough to e-mail a map and driving instructions.” Apparently The service thought Morgan was traveling in a rocket ship (see accompanying).

An inadvertent plug for car washes: The police blotter of the Beach Reporter reports that a driver was pulled over in Redondo Beach, whereupon an “open container of alcohol” was spotted inside his car. A check also found he was on parole for weapons violations. One officer then “noticed what looked like fresh handprints on the hood of the vehicle,” the newspaper said. “The officer located a loaded handgun hidden in the engine compartment.”

Fresh handprints on the hood? If the driver lived in my area, the cops would have had no such luck. My car is covered with the paw prints of the neighborhood cats.

miscelLAny: A house ad spotted by Dan Fink of L.A. indicates that among its built-in features is a family member (see accompanying).

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.