Central Coast trainer Mark Moroney will make the trip up to Grafton this evening to begin his greyhound’s preparations for the upcoming Grafton July racing carnival.
Moroney has Salina Fire in the 5th grade Carters Canine Capers Stakes (race five, 407m) and Caramel Delight in the 4/5th grade Caldwell Electrical Stakes (race six, 480m).
Both greyhounds are having their first start at the track
“I plan on bringing a few dogs back up here for the carnvial, so I wanted to give a couple of them a look at the track beforehand,” Moroney said.
Salina Fire will jump from box seven in her race and Moroney expects a big showing from her.
“She's well boxed out wide in the seven but I think it will all depend on how she handles the track at first look” he said.
“If she'd drawn anywhere from box one to five tonight, I wouldn't have given her a chance as she's desperate for a outside draw.
“Most of her wins have come from outside the five so it's big help for her as she likes to run wide coming out of the boxes.”
Salina Fire comes into this race off the back of some good runs, including two wins from her three past starts at Maitland.
“I think she's been running in much harder races at Maitland recently where she's a third grader, so it's good for her to come back to what looks like a very winnable race,” Moroney said.
Moroney's other greyhound, Caramel Delight comes from an impressive litter by Smooth Fancy and Teddy’s Jackpot which included Group 1 National Futurity winner Cash In Motion and Speed Star finalist Master Jackpot.
The trainer hopes that she can show a bit of her pedigree.
“She's out of a very hot litter and while she's not as quick as some of the others, she definitely has a lot of ability,” Moroney said.
“I've only had her for about five months and when I got her she was quite spooky, but she's really come out her shell of late.
“She's perfectly drawn in box two for the corner start of the 480m there at Grafton, so she should do well.”
In other action at tonight's meeting, Slender Jappa will be looking for back-to-back wins when he jumps from box two in the 4/5th grade Highland Petfoods Stakes (race three, 305m).
The Sonia Kempshall-trained greyhound has been in career best form of late, with four wins and four second places from his last eight starts.
Salyn Sal will make her comeback to Grafton after not having visited the track in nearly a year in the Sedgers Reef Hotel Stakes (race eight, 407m).
The Ryan Newstead-trained greyhound has an amazing recent record which has seen her never be unplaced in her last 29 starts.
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