Fire And Smoke, described by his trainer Chris Carl as "still young and silly'' earned a nomination for Wednesday night's Wentworth Park meeting with an emphatic first-up win at Gosford on Thursday.
Having his first look at the Gosford circuit, Fire And Smoke rocketed over the 515m trip in 29.74, exactly .60 outside Avondale Al's long-standing track record.
Carl, a hobby trainer who manages an outer western Sydney leagues club, said later: "I train the dog for "Polly'' Thurkettle, who I have never met.
"Polly, a NSW Riverina trainer, helped me out a while ago by taking a greyhound I was having trouble with, so a few months back he asked me to take Fire And Smoke.
"It has taken me a while to work the dog out but after five starts for me Fire And Smoke has won two races by huge margins, nine lengths and 11 lengths.
"He is not a tenacious sort of dog, he is more of an affectionate type, but he can run, and I want to get him to Wentworth Park for a couple of 520m races before trying him over a middle distance.
"I think 600m events will be his forte.''
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When Joe Scerri spent seven months working for leading trainer Mark Gatt at his Thirlmere kennels, he struck up a friendship with Gatt's major client owner, Eddie Kingswell.
Kingswell, whose greyhounds have included Gatt's champion sprinter Oaks Road, rewarded Scerri when he decided to return to his former employment in the produce department of a major supermarket, with a gift breeding female.
The greyhound - Hanify's Jewel - was a proven producer, with a previous litter having included Wentworth Park winner Private Road.
And last Thursday night at Dapto, Forever New, a daughter of Hanify's Jewel, scored a blazing win for Scerri in close to the best time of the night over 520m at Dapto.
Having only her third start, Forever New, who is just 23 months of age, scored her second win in "top grade time'' of 29.89.
"Forever New has always had above average ability and was trialling well at Dapto in December before she suffered a minor setback,'' Scerri said.
"I was out of luck for a while but things seem to have changed as four nights before Forever New's Dapto win I won a race at Nowra with Diesel Joe, who was having his first start for five months.''
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Norah Head trainer Patrick McKinnon left Gosford on Thursday with mixed feelings despite landing an impressive winner with Gun Flash MACK.
Having just his second start this year, Gun Flash MACK won impressively in the slick time of 30.08.
McKinnon's joy was tempered later in the night, though, when that greyhound's litter brother and kennelmate Fleet Foot MACK finished down the course in a similar race.
"After Gun Flash MACK won I was really excited because I had trialled him with Fleet Foot MACK at Gosford six nights earlier and Fleet Foot MACK won easily,'' McKinnon said.
"He beat Gun Flash MACK by four-and-a-half lengths in the trial so after Gun Flash MACK won his race on Thursday I was confident of winning a double.
"But Fleet Foot MACK missed the jump and finished out of a place, leaving me mystified.
"But I still plan to get to Wentworth Park with them shortly.''
