Ebro, Florida:Long Shot Wins 2007 Mega Morris Stakes at Ebro Greyhound Park

Youth was served in The 2007 Mega Morris Stakes at Ebro Greyhound Park in Ebro, Florida, located in the Florida panhandle, and was it ever. There were not one, not two, but three littermates that were just seventeen months old in the finals field, after four elimination rounds pared the original bunch of entrants down to just eight. The race, held over the 550 yard 5/16ths of a mile course, went to the only greyhound in the field that failed to win during the qualifying, as 81 pound behemoth Bow Excuse Me blazed to victory at 27-1 odds.

Excuse Me didn't exactly have to be embarrassed about being in the Mega Morris finals, as he ran second twice and third twice in the preliminaries. His brother, Bow Stepping Out, had emerged during the qualifying as a solid runner, with a pair of strong place finishes and a win, while his sis, Bow Hot Spots, won two of her four elimination races. The race favorite, I've Been Bitten, had run the fastest clocking in the qualifying, a 30.32, but he drew a six hole for the big race and despite having fifteen wins and eight seconds in thirty-eight outings at Ebro, he could only manage a fourth in the finals.

Bow Excuse Me, a March 2006 black male out of Oshkosh Slammer and Bow Pumpkin, drew the white three blanket for the Mega Morris, but even though he was always around the board in most of his sixteen races, the patrons overlooked him, since he began the stakes series as a dog that had never won a Grade A contest; he left the starting box as the longest shot on the tote board. I've Been Bitten was a huge 1-2 chalk, with GMC Fancy in the two at 5-1 odds and the eight, Kay V Dawn, at 7-2. Fancy had flown to the front in all of her eliminations, winning two and holding on for second in the other pair, so she had a great chance to do so again from her inside post, but Bow Excuse Me beat her to the corner by just a head and as the duo ran through the bend Fancy was giving away twenty pounds to the big male, who came out of it with a clean lead. Once in front he had clear sailing, extending the margin slowly but surely to two by the far turn and three at the finish line.

Fancy ran a gallant race, holding off Bow Hot Spots down the stretch to run second. Hot Spots, who is the biggest late threat in the family, had come from fifth place at the turn, and she will be a fine candidate to run the longer 660 yarders at Ebro in the future. GMC Bashful, who was in the five, could do no better than third to the first turn call, and being the type that does her best work while on the lead, she faded late and off the board. Kay V Dawn, a sixteen race victor at Ebro this meet, could not rush around all of the inside speedsters and never challenged, coming in fifth after I've Been Bitten nipped her at the wire.

In other Ebro news, the track has bolstered its kennel roster with the addition of the CZ Kennel form the now defunct Tampa Greyhound Park. CZ moved its operation north to the panhandle after Tampa pulled the rug out from under the live racing portion of their schedule. The Ebro bettors have a chance to make some money on these new racers, such as when Master Mind ran in a Grade A race at 11-1 and won handily in thirty-one seconds flat. Hanks Nora took the top echelon 3/8ths of a mile tilt on the 24th of August in her first Ebro start, holding off the hard charging favorite Postal late, repaying his backers with a $12.00 win ticket.