ZIPPING Blaze's new trainer Matt Lanigan heaped praise on the dog's former conditioner Jason MACKAY after the greyhound's first-up win in last Wednesday's Ballarat Derby heats.
ZIPPING Blaze, who registered two wins and two placings from five Wentworth Park starts for top NSW mentor MACKAY, was transferred to Lanigan's kennels at remote Swan Hill, in Victoria, on January 21.
Lanigan has had great success with greyhounds previously owned by Marty Hallinan and trained by MACKAY, notably with 2016 Hobart Thousand winner ZIPPING Bruiser, who has now won 13 races, and with ZIPPING Inglis, winner of 14 races.
"I love getting dogs from Jason because they are always ready to go on with, I can pick one up and race it a week later,'' Lanigan said.
"On top of that I can ring him any time and he is always extremely generous with relevant advice.
"Five of the six greyhounds in my kennels are 'ZIPPING' greyhounds so I rely on them a lot.
"ZIPPING Blaze is part-owned by myself and a couple of mates along with the Punters HQ Syndicate, managed by Joe Lannutti.''
Lanigan had to make a seven hours round trip to get to Ballarat from Swan Hill but was rewarded with ZIPPING Blaze winning his heat in 25.38, close to the best time of the night, 25.15.
"He has box eight in Wednesday's Derby final and I think that will suit him,'' Lanigan said.
Considering the nearest trial or race tracks to Lanigan are Bendigo and Horsham, both two-and-a-half hours away, his success has been a remarkable achievement.
xxxx
Millionaire Max went within .08 seconds of Marbo's Magic's track record when he won his 450m Ladbrokes Multimaker heat at Bathurst on February 5 and gave the time standard a real shake in leading throughout in Monday's final.
The shift from box one in his heat to box five in the final did not faze the John Buttsworth-trained greyhound who improved on his heat time to clock 25.43, comparing well with Marbo's Magic's 25.38 record.
The winner is a son of Sad Movies, who was trained at Bathurst by Buttsworth and who won 12 of 33 races, including a Wentworth Park Free-For-All.
Sad Movies has been a four-legged goldmine as a brood bitch, with previous litters, also trained by Buttsworth, including Equal Ben (11 wins and six Wentworth Park placings), Academy Award (seven wins from 20 starts) and Seven Oscars, winner of nine from 23 races.
xxxx
Glengarrie Boy has been beaten in 10 races since winning at Wentworth Park in November but should return to the winner's circle at Dapto on Thursday night.
The Mark Gatt-trained greyhound is a winner of seven Wentworth Park races so looks extremely well placed in race three, a 520m third and fourth grade provincial event.
While Glengarrie Boy boasts a fine Wenty tally of seven wins and seven placings his Dapto record is not too shabby either.
Glengarrie Boy has not been out of a place at Dapto, notching two wins and three placings from five starts.
xxxx
Sling A Chevy looked the most suitably drawn runner in Monday's two Bathurst GBOTA Monthy Medal Maiden heats and the Sam Sultana-trained youngster made full use of box eight to win running away.
He came from third early to hit the front at the top of the straight, covering the 520m in a smart 29.97 and probably ensuring his favoritism for next Monday's final .
Sling A Chevy's kennelmate More Donuts led most of the way to win the other heat in 30.18, where the Dennis Barnes-trained Nangar Blaze was a certainty beaten, finishing third.
Nangar Blaze exited box six and after being badly hampered while attempting to cross to the rails at the first turn, looked all over a winner when second, trailing More Donuts, on the back straight.
But the inexperienced Nangar Blaze clipped the leader's heels and almost fell, recovering to finish a remarkable finish third, beaten less than three lengths.
