THIRLMERE trainer Mark Gatt dominaTed Saturday night's Wentworth Park fixture by landing a winning treble with He's All Shine, Rita's Boy and Vouchers.
Gatt was unlucky not to go home with a quartet of victories as Smoking Road bungled the start before rattling home to finish second in his race.
Gatt told thedogs.com.au on Thursday that he was quietly confident of scoring three wins and he did just that, with He's All Shine winning in 30.02, Rita's Boy notching his 16th Wentworth Park success in 30.04 and Vouchers, a long odds-on favourite, taking out the final event in 30.07.
Time honours on Saturday were with the Rodney Metselaar trained Tap Out Strop, who led throughout in the opening race to win by two lengths in 29.99sec.
Metselaar trains Tap Out Strop for Trevor Jansen, who became interesTed in greyhound racing through working at weekends on the property of prominent trainer Hank Vanderburg.
Tap Out Strop is only the second greyhound Jansen has raced, with his introduction to ownership being with Wonelova Gunn, a brilliant front runner who won her first six starts in succession in late 2016 and early 2017.
Solar Sky gave 77-year-old Bill McMahon his first Wentworth Park winner in almost 60 years as an owner when she ran down Young Buster to win on Saturday night in 30.43sec.
Solar Sky, who bungled the start and got onto the heels of Ursula Allen at the first turn, stormed home from second on the back straight to win by a neck.
"I owned my first dog as an 18-year-old but until tonight I had not won a race at Wentworth Park,'' McMahon said later.
"My first city winner was a dog called Flash China who won at Harold Park in 1980, when trained by the late Ted Salmon.''
Staying rookie That's Lil Vicki made an impressive 720m debut on Saturday night, leading throughout to take out a fourth and fifth grade in the fast time of 42.08sec.
It was That's Lil Vicki's 12th win in 19 starts but her trainer Dave Irwin had to climb out of a sick bed to bring his greyhound to Sydney from his kennels at Grafton.
"I had a major operation on Monday and was not sure whether my doctor would permit me to make the long drive to Sydney with That's Lil Vicki,'' Irwin said.
"Before the race I was pretty certain That's Lil Vicki would run the 720m and that if she did she would go close to breaking the 42 second barrier.
"She had not been tried over 720m but she has always given me every indication she would be a strong stayer so I was happy with the way she went.''
