Several times a day, eight muzzled greyhounds spring from boxes at Palm Beach Kennel Club’s starting line and hurtle forward in a blurred mass.

A couple of hundred bettors watch from air-conditioned stands built for thousands. Lean speed machines with such names as Bull Gator and Open Throttle chase a mechanical lure for a third of a mile, their long strides propelling them past 40 mph. The greyhounds cross the finish line with tails wagging, except for the occasional injured dog carried off by workers.