St. Petersburg, Florida: Overlooked Extruding Dream Pays Off Big in T.L. Weaver Memorial

The fans of Derby Lane's Extruding Dream had to be salivating when they looked up as the box was being loaded for the finals of the T. L. Weaver Memorial Stakes and saw their dog at odds of 8-1. They also could not possibly have known which Extruding Dream they were going to see. Would it be the one that has been a multiple stakes winner at the Florida dog track or the more recent version? That greyhound had been soundly beaten by the race favorite, Brady Thomas, in the qualifying heat, and had run a disappointing second in the Night of Stars race in early May. They had a bit longer to wait to learn which dog would show up, but after a heart-stopping stretch that saw their hero go to the lead but almost blow the race late, they finally cashed in big time.

The Flashy Sir Award winner of 2006, a national honor that denotes greatness in distance races, Extruding Dream also can run the shorter sprints, which is what this June 9th race was, held over the 1,650 foot 5/16ths of a mile. But despite having scored stakes wins in the Derby Lane Million Consolation in 2006 and the 2007 Inaugural over the sprint, the Dream was being overlooked on this night due to his unpredictable nature as of late. The rigors of competing against the very best dogs in the United States down at Derby Lane have taken their toll on the 71 pound February 2004 greyhound, and the black male had been having troubles with fields that he used to handle. He had won just twice in his last eight outings; included in that run was a last place finish in the Matinee Idol Stakes on Memorial Day.