Mr Pupparazzi could have contested Saturday night's first round of the Group 1 Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg but trainer Charlie Riccio decided against rushing his top grader back to Wentworth Park.
Mr Pupparazzi, who famously ran down noted strong finisher Riley Tokaam to win a Wentworth Park Free-For-All on December 2, injured a fibula when unplaced at Cranbourne exactly two months later.
A winner of 13 from 26 starts, Mr Pupparazzi indicated he could be a top class stayer of the future with a sensational 600m win at Dapto after his Wenty victory.
"He is back in work and 'at a pinch' I could have put him in the Easter Egg,'' Riccio said.
"But after taking advice from a leading interstate trainer I decided to give Mr Pupparazzi a little more time rather than throw him in the deep end first up against the best sprinters in the land.''
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A prostate cancer diagnosis in early 2017 painted a bleak future for Northern Rivers trainer Garry Cluss so he offered a litter of puppies to his friends, Dapto trainers John and Judith Richardson.
Instead the Richardsons agreed to take only a half share in the eight month old youngsters and educate and train them, and now one from the litter, Sunburnt Highway, is a contender for Wednesday night's semi-finals of the Group 3 Ladbrokes Magic Maiden at Wentworth Park.
Sunburnt Highway, who finished second to Diddilee in a quick 30.16 in his heat, is trained by Judith and raced in partnership by her husband John and Garry Cluss.
"Thankfully Garry has now overcome the cancer and is looking forward to seeing Sunburnt Highway winning races in the city,'' John Richardson said.
"A week before the Magic Maiden heats Sunburnt Highway trialled 30.10 for the Wentworth Park 520m trip so he is going be competitive in any race he contests.''
The pups Cluss bred are by Oaks Road from Where's Kitty, a daughter of 2012 Group 1 National Futurity winner Midnight Capers.
Cluss had bought Where's Kitty from Midnight Capers' owner Danielle Pringle and won six races with her.
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Cop A Sling was no racetrack sensation, winning twice at Dapto from just three provincial starts, but she is a litter sister to No Donuts, winner of 25 from 53 races and $323,552 in stakes.
The family bloodlines came to the fore when Cop A Sling's son and No Donuts' nephew Steelcity Boxing was the only heat winner to break the 30sec barrier in the opening round of the group 3 Ladbrokes Magic Maiden at Wentworth Park last Wednesday night.
After Steelcity Boxing's impressive all-the-way win by over 10 lengths in 29.90, trainer Darryl Thomas heaped praise on Jody Manuel, who reared his Magic Maiden hopeful.
"She did a phenomenal job, I've never seen puppies raised better than the litter from Cop A Sling which included Steelcity Boxing,'' Thomas said.
Manuel and her husband Michael have a connection with Steelcity Boxing, as they won 15 races from 38 starts as owner-trainers of Chevy Miss, the great grandmother of the Magic Maiden sensation.
Meanwhile Cop A Chevy, a litter brother to Steelcity Boxing which is owned and trained by the Manuels, took his record to four wins from seven starts with a sizzling 22.32 effort in a heat of the Maitland Gold Collar on Thursday.
Cop A Chevy's time compared well with the fastest qualifying figures posted by the John Chapman-trained Almost Black, who covered the 400m in 22.28.
