North Coast trainer Arthur Langman's dedication in making a 12 hours round trip to give his unraced youngsters Grassetto and Maximum Drive a trial at Dapto could be rewarded with wins for that pair in Thursday night's Heats of the Crownbet Dapto Maiden Classic.
At least a dozen up-and-coming juveniles will be on display in seven Heats of the 520m Classic, with Langman, who trains at Old Bar, near Taree, bringing three siblings to Dapto.
Langman will be represented by Grassetto (Heat one), Maximum Drive (Heat four) and Blinken Gone (Heat five).
"They are members of the same litter and each of them has plenty of improvement in them following their Dapto trials last week,'' Langman said.
"There is not much between them but Grassetto, who has box two, is probably my best chance considering how they are drawn in the Heats.
"Grassetto goes well and after winning his trial from Box 5 he should be suited drawn closer to the rails.''
Maximum Drive was a close second in his trial last week but after running wide from box three and colliding soon after the start he should relish his outside draw in box eight.
Blinken Gone chased home the Allen Williams-trained Easy To Excel in a slick 30.16 trial last week at Dapto and Williams' greyhound has box seven (Heat seven).
"I would have preferred to see Easy To Excel boxed closer to the rails this week but I have done box work with him in a bid to get him to jump cleanly and get across to the inside,'' Williams said.
"Easy To Excel showed good pace to win last week's Dapto trial in 30.16 and his run home time of 12.74 was particularly encouraging.
"He turned two in May but his career had to be put on hold until now because he broke a shoulder as a pup.
"The dog is 100 per cent now though and is highly promising.''
Marty Hallinan, the NSW TAB circuit's most successful owner-breeder, could win three of Thursday's Maiden Classic Heats.
Hallinan owns and trains ZIPPING Chazza, favourite for Easy To Excel's seventh Heat, and owns the Darryl Prestwidge-trained pair ZIPPING Shine (box one, Heat two) and ZIPPING Floyd (box seven, Heat six).
ZIPPING Shine stormed home from a distant second in the early stages to win a Bathurst 450m trial on August 7 at his first public appearance.
Although her time of 26.70 was slow, ZIPPING Shine should be more at home over Thursday's longer 520m journey.
ZIPPING Floyd was on debut when he recorded a slick 26.13 in a 450m solo trial at Bathurst on July 24 while ZIPPING Chazza was in the all conquering Jason Mackay kennel at Sawyers Gully, in the Hunter Valley, for his sole public outing.
ZIPPING Chazza zipped over the 515m course at LADBROKES GARDENS in 29.92, time rarely matched by an unraced maiden puppy.
Garry Edwards, who trained the former champion Double Twist, will unveil a smart prospect in that greyhound's daughter Fiery Crash, who has box five (Heat three).
Fiery Crash, who produced a slick second split of 17.15 in a handy 30.38 solo trial over 520m at Nowra on August 7, is regally bred, being sired by Fernando Bale, one of the sport's all-time greats.
Jeff Collerson's picks
Best Bet: Explosive Brown (Race 9)
Best Value: Grassetto (Race 1)
Quaddie
Race 5 - 5, 6, 8
Race 6 - 7, 3, 4
Race 7 - 1, 4, 7
Race 8 - 5, 6
$20 for 37.03%
