Zipping Kansas stunned the large crowd at Wentworth Park on Saturday night by giving the more experienced Wow a start and a beating to take out a thrilling NSW GBOTA Christmas Gift match race series.
The Jason Magri-trained Zipping Kansas relished having the outside draw in their heat and revelled in the one-on-one conditions, trailing Wow to the home turn before surging clear in the straight to win by just over two lengths.
Zipping Kansas covered the 520m in 29.46, clearly his personal best time in seven WP appearances, which, until Saturday, had produced just three wins.
Wow lost no admirers with his performance, posting sensational splits of 5.36, 13.68 and 17.79 and stopping the clock at 29.62, which gave the Danielle Matic-trained speedster second placing in the series.
After their race Jason Magri, trainer of Zipping Kansas, said: "I gave him a terrific chance of winning tonight because in his two trials leading up to the event he clocked near record time of 30.30 over 535m at Richmond and then ran 29.50 in a 520m Dapto hit-out.
"Zipping Kansas was suited by being drawn on the outside of Wow and he was able to handle the top turn better than he has in most of his Wenty races.
"I don't think Gosford would suit Zipping Kansas so will probably give the Beast Unleashed Gosford Cup a miss and bring him back to WP to prepare for the up-coming group one Paws Of Thunder.''
Magri's brother Ray was also confident about Zipping Kansas winning and had a nice wager at $9 on the family pooch to win the series.
Third placing in the match race series was taken by John Finn's Zipping Kyrgios, who led throughout to defeat Winlock On Top in 29.69.
Slightly slower was Bandit Ned, who went into his heat with six wins from six WP starts but only just managed to retain his unbeaten record at headquarters, getting up in the last stride to score by a nose in 29.73.
The series had got off to an exciting start when Mark Moroney's old warrior Fire Legend reeled off initial splits of 5.40 and 13.77 before caught on the line by Jodie Lord's Bandit Ned.
Biggest upset of the Christmas Gift came in the fourth duel where Sound Of Silence was expected to win comfortably, but Bandit Ned's kennelmate Coast Model exploded out of the boxes and led throughout.
Coast Model clocked quick sectional times of 5.38 and 13.79 before holding off the strong finishing Sound Of Silence to win in 29.74.
Australia's best stayer Stanley Road had no difficulty overcoming another poor big race draw - this time box six - to take out Saturday night's other feature event, the 720m NSW GBOTA Christmas Cheer.
A noted slow beginner, Stanley Road jumped cleanly and after being fourth going into the first turn, emerged at the top of the straight with a lap to go as the pacemaker.
He held on to win by nearly four lengths in a smart 42.18, comfortably holding off a brave Super Estrella, the odds-on favourite who had dwelt at the start from box one but who had been able to snatch a narrow lead at the first corner.
Stanley Road's win did not come without worry for trainer Mark Gatt who said later: "Somewhere during the race another dog spiked him and he finished up with a hole in his foot.
"I'm not sure how long it will take to heal but fortunately there are no big long distance races for the next month.
"He had not raced since mid November but went into tonight's race with a couple of very fast trials over 618m at Richmond and 600m at Dapto and was nice and fresh.
"Maybe that's why he showed so much early zip but it was still a good effort to put the time on the board considering it was the dog's first 720m test for so many weeks.''
Vamos Penny earned a tilt at the Beast Unleashed Gosford Cup when she notched her 10th WP win on Saturday, leading all the way in 29.96.
After the race Doreen Drynan, whose daughter Kerry trains the greyhound, said: "Vamos Penny loves Wentworth Park but she also goes really well at Gosford so while the opposition will be very strong she deserves a chance at the Cup there.
"The Richmond 535m trip is a bit tough for Vamos Penny but Gosford and Wenty suit her.''
Rising four-year-old Ebby Infrared, who becomes eligible for Masters races in February, scored his 46th win in 116 races with his all-the-way win in Saturday's third and fourth grade.
The Michael Eberand trained veteran managed to hold out Arctic Kingdom for the lead at the first turn and held off a fast finishing Ziggy Star to win by a neck in 30.13.
