Ritza Lenny's big race luck finally changed allowing him to win the Group 2 Bob Payne Spring Sprint while Whittaker ran the race of his life to take out the Group 3 Ladbrokes Chairmans Cup at the Wentworth Park meeting on Saturday night.
The Mark Gatt-trained Ritza Lenny had starrred in heats and semi-finals of a succession of group races before being thwarted by poor draws in the finals but this time he overcame box five and luck went his way.
After being third early and trapped wide when fourth on the back straight, Ritza Lenny swept around his rivals to hit the front when scrimmaging occurred near the rails.
Buck Forty, who was unleashing a powerful rails run and was being hailed as the certain winner, clipped the heels of pacemaker Lagoon Jazzy and lost all chance.
When the happened Ritza Lenny pounced on the lead, while Buck Forty's kennelmate Aqua Cheetah was able to go from sixth on the back straight to be second turning for home.
Ritza Lenny, who had been fastest qualifier with a 29.60 heat win, raced away to win by four lengths in 29.74, with Aqua Cheetah second and rank outsider Too Many Daddys a distant third.
Before the race Mark Gatt had said: "While I would have preferred an inside box with Ritza Lenny his draw is not as bad as it looks on paper.
"Too Many Daddys, in box four, has pace and goes to the fence, Buck Forty in six is slow early and Maja Mahi Mahi and Aqua Cheetah in seven and eight tend to run straight to the first corner.
"So if Ritza Lenny begins reasonably well he might find a position at the first turn.''
Gatt's prediction turned out to be totally accurate, although there is no doubt Buck Forty was extremely unlucky after getting onto the heels of Ritza Lenny's sister Lagoon Jazzy.
But Buck Forty's trainer Jason Thompson was philosophical, saying: "My dog has had some good luck in big races so you can't expect things to go your way all the time.''
Whittaker (pictured), like Ritza Lenny the fastest qualifier for his group race on Saturday, bungled the start but still managed to cover the 720m in 42.18.
Whittaker had led throughout to win his heat in 42.17sec but on Saturday was slowly away, fifth with a lap to go and a distant fourth on the back straight.
But he sustained his long run to be a close third on the home turn and surged clear in the straight, scoring by just over two lengths from favourite More In Store with WA visitor Olivia Benson a half length back third after leading most of the way.
"That was Whittaker's 21st win but it was undoubtedly his best performance," Whittaker's trainer Julie Fletcher said.
"My husband Bruce and I believe he tries to anticipate the boxes opening and while last week he timed the jump perfectly, tonight he misjudged it completely.''
Black Top minor placegetter One Hill will tackle Friday's heats of the Casino Cup after winning impressively at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
One Hill surprised by jumping in front from box five but after being headed by speedster One Samuel leaving the back straight, he finished determinedly to beat that greyhound by three quarters of a length.
"I think Casino will suit my bloke because while the Cup is only over 480m and tonight's race was 520m, you need a strong dog to win at Casino," One Hill's trainer Charlie Lamb said.
"The 480m there is a pretty tough run.''
When South's Mick's owner Michael Vella was seeking a trainer for his dog a friend recommended Michael Galea and the combination landed a second Wentworth Park win in 10 days on Saturday night.
The vastly improved South's Mick, a litter brother to Bob Payne runner-up Aqua Cheetah, led throughout on Saturday to win in 30.00 after scoring in 30.14 on August 30.
"Normally my mate Luke Azzopardi would have trained South's Mick but he relocated to Victoria and a friend, Jason Thomas, recommended Michael Galea,'' Vella said.
"Michael Galea had trained previously for Jason so finding him has been a terrific result for me because he has done a fantastic job with South's Mick.''
See you next week!
