Lochinvar Hugo, off the scene since mid-January, has trialled brilliantly over 520m at Wentworth Park and is poised to make a successful return to middle and long distance racing.
Lochinvar Hugo's 26 wins and nine seconds from 37 starts have made him a crowd favourite and the Robert Smith-trained dog won first up over the Wentworth Park 720m trip on January 6, clocking a fast 42.23 in defeating tough stayer Ebby Ripper.
He was injured a week later when fourth in a heat of the Wentworth Park Summer Plate but is raring to go again.
"I trialled Lochinvar Hugo over 520m at Wenty recently and he recorded 29.70 so he is as good as ever,'' trainer Smith said.
"I will give him a couple of 600m races and then step him back up to 720m events at Wentworth Park.''
xxxx
Grafton trainer Evelyn Harris will enter a trio of lightly raced and inexperienced but talented siblings in the heats of the group three New Sensation at Wentworth Park on March 21.
Harris has made the trek to Wentworth Park to trial each of her youngsters, with Fernando Bonus clocking 30.32 for the 520m and Bad Neighbour last Saturday running down her sister Sainty Bonus in 30.52.
"Fernando Bonus, who has won two of six starts, is the quickest of them but while their times were not fast I was happy with the way Bad Neighbour and Sainty Bonus, each a winner of just one race, went in their trials last week,'' Harris said.
"Sainty Bonus made the pace and clocked a smart second split 13.95 with Bad Neighbour trailing her and finishing better to win the trial by just under a length.
"The New Sensation, open to youngsters whelped on or after November 17, 2015, who have not won more than 10 races or raced more than 20 times, looks a good race for them.''
Harris' three juveniles are by sensational stud dog Fernando Bale from her brood bitch Dark And Stormy, already the dam of luminaries like Cosmic Bonus (23 wins) and Black Lee Bonus (22 wins).
While Harris and her husband Leonard have good opinions of their 22 month old New Sensation aspirants, they are even more excited about the first litter whelped by their former brilliant speedster Magic Display.
A winner of 26 races and a finalist in Tonk's 2014 Golden Easter Egg final, Magic Display is the mother of puppies sired by Fernando Bale's former kennelmate Dyna Double One, himself a winner of $1,160,316 in stakes.
"Although they are only 10 months old, we have started working Magic Display's offspring along and they are the keenest youngsters we have educated,'' Leonard Harris said.
xxxx
Trainer Jason MACKAY's bold plan to attempt to win the Group 1 Association Cup with a greyhound which had not even raced at Wentworth Park has had to be abandoned.
ZIPPING-potter">ZIPPING">ZIPPING Potter broke down in a 618m race at Richmond on Friday and will miss the heats of the 720m Cup at Wentworth Park on March 24.
"I am convinced ZIPPING-potter">ZIPPING">ZIPPING Potter will develop into a top class stayer but he was pretty sore after the Richmond race and will need to have a few weeks off,'' MACKAY said.
Before his unplaced effort in Big Daddy Bee's Richmond 618m race on Friday, ZIPPING-potter">ZIPPING">ZIPPING Potter had won eight of 11 races at distances ranging from 450m to 618m.
MACKAY knows what it takes to make a long-distance star as he trained 2011 Summer Cup winner and NSW Greyhound of the Year ZIPPING Lad, Classy Customer, who won the 2005 Association Cup and 2004 Summer Cup and Big Sam Banner, the 2003 Association Cup victor.
