Zipping Bailey, heroine of last month's Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg and Saturday's Evans & Son Jewellers Ladies Bracelet at Wentworth Park, has box two in Thursday night's second heat of the Group 1 Sapphire Crown at Melbourne's Sandown Park.
The Sapphire Crown is open to the best 32 female greyhounds with the final, worth $100,000 to the winner, over 515m at Sandown on May 24.
While Zipping Bailey has not raced at Sandown Park, her always thorough trainer Jason MACKAY has given his champion bitch a look at the track.
"Zipping Bailey has not been out of the 515m boxes at Sandown but has had a post-to-post slip there,'' MACKAY said.
NSW will field a strong team in Thursday's heats of the 715m Sandown Cup, the richest staying race on the national calendar.
The John Finn-traiNed Two Times Twice (box six) takes on Tornado Tears (five) in heat one, while Finn's Veloce Nero (box four), Blue Moon Rising (six) and Poco Dorado (four) will contest heats two, three and four.
Embye, traiNed in the NSW Southern Highlands by Ruth Matic, has box two in heat four, while NSW-owNed pair Kanzan and Ella Enchanted have box one (heat three) and box three (heat four) respectively.
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FRIDAY night's Ladbrokes Graeme Hull Memorial Cup heats at Wagga have received a huge quality boost with the inclusion of Wentworth Park stars Good Odds Meghan and Good Odds Buddy in the lineup.
Three heats of the 525m event will be held with the $13,000 to the winner final a week later.
Good Odds Meghan, who led throughout at Wentworth Park in a slick 29.86s on May 4, was far from disgraced when third, beaten less than three lengths, in Zipping Bailey's Group 3 Evans & Son Ladies Bracelet at headquarters on Saturday night.
Good Odds Buddy chased Dual Keroma all the way when second, beaten one-and-a-half lengths, in Saturday's Wentworth Park Free-For-All, with the winner stopping the clock at 29.74s.
Good Odds Meghan and Good Odds Buddy are litter sister and brother of Good Odds Harada, who broke the race record in taking out Saturday night's Group 3 Bob Payne Sprint final on Saturday, covering the Wentworth Park 520m in 29.58s.
All three are traiNed at Londonderry by Frank Hurst, who has notched 22 wins from 60 starts with the dashing trio.
Good Odds Harada will head back to Wentworth Park on Saturday night while Good Odds Meghan and Good Odds Buddy will make their first appearances at Wagga.
"If I had nominated them all for Wenty they probably would have clashed with each other in the Free-For-All on Saturday night,'' Hurst said.
Wagga has a reputation for being "a leader's track'' but Hurst said: "While Good Odds Meghan is a fast beginner, I reckon all courses suit front-runners these days.
"She and Good Odds Buddy have not seen Wagga in a trial or race but Good Odds Buddy is a particularly fast greyhound.
"He is actually a bit quicker than my Bob Payne winner Good Odds Harada, although he is an excellent race dog.
"I have not won a Wagga Cup but have had starters at their annual carnival a few times and did win a short course final there a few years back.''
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Gunshot Ridge took out last year's Wagga Cup final for Wallandbeen (Cootamundra) trainer Lorraine ROY, a regular at country cup carnivals over the past three decades.
Gunshot Ridge defeated the Pam and Paul Braddon-traiNed Spring Jazz in 30.67 but ROY's only starter in Friday night's 525m heats is Petra Herrara, who has box eight in heat five.
Petra Herrara has had 22 starts for just three wins and nine placings and her connections are not confident of achieving back-to-back Cup wins.
"She will be long odds and will need a lot of luck to make it through to the final,'' ROY's husband Jack said.
Meanwhile Ned's Chance, who won nine races from 27 starts for the ROY family, made an impressive debut for new trainer John Lawson in taking out a heat of the 429m Muswellbrook Cup last Sunday.
Lawson, bases at Aberdeen, near Scone, purchased Ned's Chance on the strength of a smart 520m trial at Bathurst and the speedster looks to have a second-to-none chance in Sunday's Muswellbrook Cup final.
