Another dazzling front-running exhibition by Mack Tux at Wentworth Park on Saturday night has the Bruce King-trained greyhound set to tackle Group race glory for the first time in next month's Christmas Gift.
On Saturday night Mack Tux made light of a tricky box six draw to score his third successive all-the-way Wentworth Park win, with his early splits a blistering 5.38 and 13.78 and his overall figures of 30.11 clearly best of the meeting.
Mac Tux now looks one to watch in the heats of the Christmas Gift on December 10, with the $25,000-to-the-winenr final a week later.
"I will give the dog a week off now and get him ready for the Christmas Gift," King, who trains Mack Tux for a syndicate of WA owners, said.
"It was a great effort by him tonight because due to a death in my family I had been unable to give Mack Tux his normal pre-race preparation.
"He had not been off the lead since winning at Wentworth Park on November 12.
"And while he has recorded 29.87sec at Wenty I believe he can only get better, he is still toughening up.''
Exciting prospect Patch Adam gave Hunter Valley trainer Max Rimmer his first Wentworth Park winner when he staged a last-to-first performance to take out Saturday night's This Is Our Run Final, 520m.
Despite being a conspicuous last to leave the starting boxes, Patch Adam zoomed around six of his rivals to be trailing only pacemaker However Humble rounding the first bend.
Rimmer's greyhound dashed to the lead leaving the back straight and came away to win by over seven lengths in 30.27.
"I have been training greyhounds for seven years and this is my first city winner,'' an excited Rimmer said later.
"My wife Helen did most of the work until recently when I retired from my job in the coal industry and was able to devote more time to the greyhounds.
"We bred Patch Adam, and his sister White Magic Opal, from our moderately performed bitch Limited Addition, who we mated with Black Magic Opal.''
Tap Out Axe scored his first win in 16 starts from wider than box four when he began brilliantly from box eight to lead throughout in a 520m fifth grade on Saturday night.
Described by trainer Rod Metselaar as "the worst crasher in Australia'' Tap Out Axe veered to the left as box rise but had begun so quickly he cleared his rivals and led comfortably at the first turn.
"Tap Out Axe's five previous wins were from boxes one, two and four and he has been hopeless from five, six, seven and eight,'' Metselaar said.
"I trialled him over 400m at Richmond on Tuesday and he went like a rocket, posting terrific sectional times, so I was sweating on him getting box one or two tonight.
"If he had I was going to have a good bet on him but when he drew box eight I was devastated and did not have one dollar on the dog.''
Ashley Dwyer, whose daughter Ellen Harris is the GBOTA's racing manager, celebrated becoming a grand-father when his greyhound Mainline Osti led throughout in a 520m fifth grade on Saturday night.
Ellen Harris gave birth to her first child, a girl, a week ago and Dwyer had been confident of Mainline Osti enhancing the happy occasion by winning on Saturday night.
See you next week!
