It will only be a matter of weeks before NSW Greyhound of the Year Double Twist will make her long anticipated race return, according to trainer Garry Edwards.
Double Twist has spent almost three months off the track after injuring her back muscle during the Group 1 Paws Of Thunder series in January.
Edwards has initially earmarked the Group 3 Ladies Bracelet heats at Wentworth Park as a possibility for Double Twist's race return due to the fact her recovery was moving faster than expected.
However, Edwards decided to err on the side of caution and not rush his kennel star back to the track too soon.
"I was waiting on the okay from my vet and it didn't come in time. She and I discussed it was probably better to be safe than sorry and give her a gradual build up back into racing instead of throwing her in the deep end," he said.
"In my own mind, with the way she was going in the paddock, I probably could have trialled her before that series.
"She was never out of work. I either walked her on the lead, had my son come and run with her or had her galloping around the paddock.
"But I didn't want to go against the vet because I knew if I did, something unlucky was bound to happen."
Edwards has made the decision to start Double Twist's build up to a race start with some trials at Nowra.
"I trialled her on Wednesday and she was flying. I worked out based on her sections that she probably went within a few hundredths of a second of the 365m record there.
"She came home in 11.63 and that section is about a 300m run and say if she ran an average 8.60 to the top mark, she would have gone 20.23 and the record there is 20.21.
"I only live 15 minutes from the track and by the time I got home on Wednesday, the owner was already at my place and he knew exactly how fast she went.
"That just proves how quickly news like that travels through the grapevine."
"The owner and I have discussed what the plan was from here and we think it's just better to just progress slowly from here.
"I would love to get a 365m trial before the first race at Nowra on Monday when the track is prepared but it's probably going to be too much of a hassle.
"It would be interesting to see what she does over a proper 365m trial because judging by that Wednesday trial, Tiny (Double Twist's kennel name) is flying at the moment.
"I'll see if I can get her a trial over the 365m at Nowra again on a prepared track and then give her a few posts to posts at Dapto.
"After that I reckon she will probably be right to go in a 500m.
"She will definitely be racing by the end of the month if not sooner."
When Double Twist hits the track again, Edwards believes we could be in store for something special.
"What she's doing right now is just mind-blowing. I'm not saying she is Shakey Jakey or Hooksy standard right now, but I think she's going just as well if not better than she was before the injury."
