Draco Dominates

Posted on December 06, 2003 by Steve Bowman 

Little Morgan, the super dog of Big Air competitions, finally ran into his kryptonite.

Draco, a chocolate Labrador, won the Ducks Unlimited Big Air competition Saturday at the Super Retriever Series event in New Orleans. The dog's win marks only the second time Little Morgan has been beaten since he set a world record in 2002 at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games. And the first time where it was obvious that he didn't have a chance.

Draco, owned and handled by Donna Ames of Bruce, Wisc., dominated the event jumping 23.05 feet in the semifinal to make the final round and followed it with a 22.04 feet jump to win. Meanwhile Little Morgan and handler, Mike Jackson, finished fourth with 20.09 feet.

Second place was won by Ken Butler and Tank of Tulsa, Okla. with a jump of 21.05 feet and third place went to Jeremy Reed of Glen Gardner, N.J. with a jump of 20.11 feet.

As impressive as Draco's win was it was even more so considering the 3-year old retriever is recovering from an injury.

"It's just been in the last three weeks that he's was back to 90 percent," Ames said.

The Labrador tore some muscles in its right leg and hasn't been able to go full speed.

"Morgan is an awesome dog," Ames said. "I'm just in awe Draco won. He's just a super star."

Whether he's the next new super dog on the Ducks Unlimited Big Air tour won't be known until April 2004. That's when the Super Retriever Series presented by Natural Life Pet Products will hold it's final event at Mack's Prairie Wings in Stuttgart, Ark.