El Magnifico recorded the fastest time of the night at Wentworth Park on Saturday despie giving connections anxious moments in the lead-up to the fifth grade 520m race.
Trainer Julie Fletcher had considered scratching El Magnifico before the two-year-old led throughout to win by more than seven lengths in a blistering 29.75, a .21sec improvement on his previous best WP time.
Fletcher's husband Bruce explained later: "We trialled El Magnifico over 274m at Appin on Tuesday and he made a mess of the start, sprawling and almost falling soon after he jumped.
"He usually runs no worse than 15.80 at Appin but after the bad start he clocked 16.35, which is terrible for him.
"We think he must have attempted to push the boxes open before they lifted.
"Scratching him was a serious consideration but a day before the race he was his old self again and he showed tonight how fast he can be when he draws a good box.''
El Magnifico completed a winning double for the Fletchers as their stayer Whittaker led throughout in a 720m event, clocking 42.50.
"Whittaker should run about 42.20 or 42.30 on the bunny so I think the track might have been a couple of tenths slow tonight, which makes El Magnifico's run all the better,'' Bruce Fletcher added.
"Rookie'' trainer Rick Burke landed his second win in four Wentworth Park starts with Mystic Quality when she showed brilliant early pace to lead throughout in a 520m fourth and fifth grade on Saturday.
Mystic Quality rocketed from box eight, cutting to the rails to win by nearly five lengths in 30.17sec and recording a brilliant first split of 5.38.
Burke said later: "I bought Mystic Quality's dam All Quality as a puppy.
"She was offered for sale by her breeder Charlie Lamb and was a daughter of his Paws Of Thunder winner One Tree Hill.
"Charlie reared and trained All Quality for me and she was a fast bitch who won races but she was also erratic. So I retired her and her offspring all have plenty of ability.
"I'm still learning about how to train greyhounds so whatever my dogs do, all credit goes to them, not to me.''
When Rod Metselaar was looking for a brood bitch to mate with top stud dog Magic Sprite he borrowed Indigo Gem and that pair's union produced Saturday night's impressive WP winner Tap Out Axe.
Tap Out Axe, a litter brother to Metselaar's triple WP winner Tap Out Scarlet and Shane Pulbrook's smart sprinter, Tap Out Rooster, overcame a slow start to win by four lengths in 30.16.
"I had been seeking a brood bitch and came to an arrangement with Dubbo breeder Charmaine Roberts to borrow her greyhound Indigo Gem,'' Metselaar explained. "Charmaine and I went halves in every thing, the service fee to Magic Sprite and other costs involved and then divided the litter.
"Tap Out Axe formerly had a bad habit of crashing sharply to the left at box rise but he seems to be learning to race more truly. He bungled the start from box four tonight but worked his way across to the rails more gradually than he used to and then got a lovely run along the fence.
"Even though he got a clear passage through the first turn and the pen it was a good effort for him to bomb the start and still be able to hit the front on the back straight and win.''
The Shaun Evans-trained Star Torana took her earnings to nearly $88,000 when she notched her ninth Wentworth Park win in Saturday night's top grade 520m event.
Star Torana had missed the jump when unplaced at Wentworth Park a week earlier but "nailed'' the start on Saturday and easily held off a late bid by Bessy Boo to score by four lengths in 29.81.
See you next week!
