The strongest lineup in the 17 year history of Gosford's Woy Woy Poultry Gold Cup will tackle Tuesday night's heats with nine runners boasting a remarkable winning strike rate of 118 wins from a combined 251 races.
Contenders for this year's Group 2 race include Miss Splendamiro, who has won 10 of 18 starts, Bombshell Bandit (11 of 27), Rohan Hill (16 of 37), Cosmic Bonus (21 from 44), Poppa Ogg (nine of 21), Riley Tokaam (21 out of 48) and Canya Ayden, successful in 10 of 23 outings.
This year's 515m race will also mark the Gosford return of last year's winner Barking Bad along with outstanding Victorian One Required.
The Victorian is trained by Graeme Jose, whose 2008 National Distance Championship winner Mantra Lad's won 26 races and $152,000 prizemoney.
Evelyn Harris' Magic Display was runner-up to Awesome Project in the 2014 Gosford Cup and the Grafton trainer is upbeat about Cosmic Display making up for that disappointment.
"Cosmic Bonus dislocated a shoulder in October and when he won at Wentworth Park on December 16 he was having his first 520m test since coming back,'' Harris said.
"He showed terrific speed to lead easily but went amiss for a couple of strides and after being headed he came again to win.
"I think he pinched a nerve when he hit the bend, and although that relegated him to second position he was fine once he straightened up and charged home.
"Cosmic Bonus is now raring to go for the heats because he loves racing at Gosford.''
Sun was introduced to greyhound racing by Gordon Sciberras, part-owner of another Cup hopeful Poppa Ogg, a track specialist who has had five wins and a second from seven Gosford starts for trainer and co-owner Barbara Spackman.
Riley Tokaam, winner of the Group 3 Christmas Gift at Wentworth Park on December 16, has won twice over 600m at Gosford although trainer Jason Mackay concedes the track is not among his dog's pet circuits.
But the John Little-trained Black Hole Sun, who notched his eighth Wentworth Park win on Wednesday night, handles the tight course comfortably and has won there in a slick 29.64.
Fastest of Tuesday's entries is Barking Bad, who clocked a scorching 29.35 in last year's final triumph, along with Cosmic Bonus (29.40) and Poppa Ogg (29.50) while Miss Splendamiro's back-to-back wins in the past fortnight being in 29.78 and 29.68.
Final of the Cup, worth $40,000 to the winner, will be staged at Gosford on January 2.
