Hardaway Highway, who gave Winsome Jacko's 400m Maitland record a mighty shake last Thursday, will be chasing his 19th win in 40 starts when he lines up over 440m at Goulburn on Tuesday.
Last Thursday Hardaway Highway sped over the 400m in 22.10, a whisker outside Winsome Jacko's 21.98 record set in October 2014.
He will now jump from box seven in the Palmerbet Stakes (440m), race 10 on the card at Tuesday's Goulburn meeting and looks ready to score another win.
Although Hardaway Highway has won eight of his past 12 starts, trainer Ron Marsden has no plans to test him over 520 metres.
"I have had greyhounds long enough to know he won't run it,'' Marsden said.
"Hardaway Highway is such a good chaser that if I put him over 500m or more he would stress himself out badly. With a dog like him I just have to be patient and pick my races.
"After Tuesday's Goulburn race he will be going back to Maitland on December 15 for a fifth grade sprint.
"Although Hardaway Highway has won 18 races he is still eligible for grade five at Maitland so I just have to place him correctly.
"He is not racing in the city and earning big prizemoney but they say little fish are sweet and I would rather be winning small races than getting beaten in big ones.
"His sister Hardaway Alteva, which I have been racing at Wentworth Park, can run 520m and has as much talent as Hardaway Highway, but she is not as good a race dog as he is.''
Marsden, a retired truck driver, bred Hardaway Highway and Hardaway Alteva from his broodie Hardaway Shiraz, whose previous litter included the smart sprinters Hardaway Law and Hardaway Grand, runner-up in a Maitland Future Stars Final.
Hardaway Highway and Alteva are by Oaks Road while Hardaway Grand and Law were by El Grand Senor.
XXXX
However Humble and Veerhoff are dual Wentworth Park winners but their breeder Doreen Drynan has always rated their unraced sister Fortunes Of Time as the fastest in the litter.
A succession of setbacks has resulted in Fortunes Of Time now having racked up no fewer than four performance trials for three wins and a third.
She was ready to begin racing in May when she won a 400m trial at Gosford but an injury sidelined her until July, when she resumed to finish third in a 515m hit-out there.
Fortunes Of Time was off the scene again until September 30 when she won a 400m performance trial at Richmond while last Friday she produced her best performance, leading throughout to win an identical trial in a fast 22.73.
Drynan's patience looks set to be rewarded with Fortunes Of Time, seven months after making her first public appearance, ready to set the tracks alight.
XXXX
Barbara Spackman obtained her first greyhound in the late 1950s when she swapped a boxer puppy for a race dog, Pine Agricola, which she trained to win races.
Now Spackman is back in the winner's circle, winning a 400m maiden at Richmond on Friday with My Little Mate, a daughter of Fabregas and her former New Zealand-trained champion Little Mother, who won an amazing 21 of 32 races.
"My Little Mate is the first greyhound I have trained since I won seven races from 20 starts with So Sorry in 2012,'' Spackman said.
"My Little Mate was once so timid she was absolutely terrified of people, so to bring her out of her shell I used to take her to the Richmond trials every week and make her walk among all the people and their greyhounds.
"On Friday My Little Mate ran the 400m in 22.93, which is good Time for a maiden.
"I am hopeful she will eventually run 520m so I can bring her to Wentworth Park but her unraced litter brother Poppa Ogg, who is being trained on my behalf by Darren Sultana, is faster.
"Poppa Ogg was the nickname of my great grandfather, and this greyhound broke in sensationally so we are expecting big things from him.''
Spackman rates Baroness Seal, an outstanding sprinter during the golden era of the Harold Park track in the 1970s, as the best greyhound she has trained.
