Jane Carruthers, who trained Rapid Journey, Australia's greatest greyhound of the 1990s, is back in the limelight with two finalists in Wednesday night's $10,000 to the winner thedogs.com.au Maiden Series at Wentworth Park.
Carruthers will be represented by He's Clever and La Wildy Man, who were runners-up in their heats behind Black Hole Sun and Reviewer respectively.
Carruthers' pair are offspring of her former champion sprinter Magic Sprite and were produced by Lady Jasmin, who won 12 of 17 races for crack Northern Rivers trainer Frank Hancock.
"My husband John had a huge opinion of Lady Jasmin, who broke 30sec at her first Wentworth Park start, so persuaded Frank Hancock to lease her to us to breed one litter,'' Jane Carruthers said.
"John was convinced Lady Jasmin would 'click' with our stud dog Magic Sprite and the litter whelped in October, 2014, all have ability.''
Watching Magic, who had to be scratched from Wednesday's maiden heats, has won performance trials over 400m and 472m at Bulli in smart times and is as good as He's Clever, who rattled home behind Black Hole Sun.
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Carole and Jeff Eaton's son Scott can claim the credit for the shock Wentworth Park win by Mega Fletch in a heat of thedogs.com.au Maiden Series last Wednesday night.
Mega Fletch raced wide but led throughout to defeat the luckless Winsome April by two lengths in 30.69, by far the slowest of the four heats.
While Jeff and Carole share the training duties of their greyhounds, Scott is a "breeding buff'' who often advises them on what puppies to buy and convinced them they should purchase Mega Fletch.
"Scott is constantly studying pedigrees and when he saw breeder Anne Kada advertising a three months old litter by Spring Gun from Mega Flame he told us to buy a couple of the puppies,'' Carole Eaton said.
Mega Flame was a smart front running sprinter for Kada who is bred in the purple and was lightly raced, winning five of just 23 starts.
And while Mega Fletch had been beaten in five races before winning last week, he is an "early comer'' compared to his mum.
Mega Flame did not win a race until her 11th racetrack appearance, and like her son Mega Fletch she opened her account at Wentworth Park.
After that initial win Mega Flame did not look back, winning three of her next four Wenty outings.
Like her sisters Lorraine Atchison and Noelene Holloway, Carole Eaton pays much heed to her father, George Singline, who trained Scott Of Minmi to win the Group 1 1979 Vic Peters Classic as a maiden youngster.
"Dad reckoned we were wasting our time coming to town with Mega Fletch because he did not think the dog good enough to win at Wentworth Park,'' Carole said.
"So I've had one of my rare wins over my father!"
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When Frank Sidrak paid $2500 for Iona Habit he obtained one of the sport's real bargains, with two of her offspring landing a double at Bulli on Friday and another showing promise winning a performance trial.
Iona Nitro, a member of Iona Habit's October, 2013 litter sired by Tuiaki, won over 472m in 27.06 while Iona Inferno, sired by Swift Fancy and born in April, 2014, scored over the same trip in 26.81.
Iona Diesel, another from Iona Habit's April, 2014 litter, completed a happy night for the Sidrak clan when he won his PT over 400m in 23.13.
Iona Nitro is a litter brother to Iona Muffin Top, who sprang the surprise of Peter Mosman semi-final night when he led throughout to take out the $20,000 to the winner Ladbrokes GBOTA Distance Challenge at Wentworth Park.
But none of the above are likely to reach the heights scaled by Iona Habit's first litter, also by Tuiaki, which included Iona Seven, Iona Tokyo and Courageous Girl.
Iona Seven won the 2014 Paws Of Thunder and earned $150,000 in stakes, while Iona Tokyo, a brilliant front runner, won 18 races and Courageous Girl, another fast beginner, numbered a Wentworth Park success among her five wins.
"Breeder Colin Walker was offering Iona Habit for sale and when a friend of mine, the experienced trainer Brian Reilly recommended her to me, I bought her for $2500,'' Sidrak said.
"She only won three races but at that stage I was still learning about training and found it late that Iona Habit had been troubled with kidney problems.
"Although he has not yet won a race the fastest of Iona Habit's third litter is Iona Carlson, who is a stack of ability but is a terrible box dog, sometimes coming out 15 lengths behind the field.''
It's no surprise Iona Habit has been so successful at stud as her dam, Dancing Habit, won the 2003 John Stollery Christmas Gift in what was then race record time of 30.23, for her breeder Geoff Cook.
