Vince Murray has made a comeback to training greyhounds after having a "spell'' of 44 years with his bitch Kwong Magic winning again at Bulli on Monday.
Kwong Magic, just 29 months of age, posted her best 400m Bulli figures of 22.49 on Monday, taking her record to five wins and three placings from eight appearances.
"Kwong Magic is the first greyhound I have trained since I was 33, and I'm now 77,'' Murray said.
"I was a concreter and plasterer before retiring but have owned dogs in recent years, including Gas Metre and Dad's Ambition, which my mate Peter McCann trained at Glebe.
"Gas Metre won eight races, with a Wenty win among four wins in succession in 2016, while Dad's Ambition also scored a Wentworth Park win among eight victories.
"I named Dad's Ambition after my father, Vince senior, because he owned and trained greyhounds while I was a kid growing up, and his aim had always been to win a race at Wentworth Park.
"But he never achieved that goal so I was pretty chuffed when his namesake Dad's Ambition was able to do the trick.
"Gas Metre's litter sister Princess Aria, is the mother of Kwong Magic.
"Princess Aria was unraced after fracturing a shoulder in a trial and because her owners did not want to breed from her they gave her to me for nothing.
"She whelped Kwong Magic and one other puppy in April, 2017, but unfortunately is unable to have any more pups.
"Best thing about Kwong Magic is that she is a lid-pinger.
"And while I'm not saying she will ever be extremely strong, I believe she will run 520m at Wentworth Park.
"Her run home times over shorter distances at the provincials indicate Kwong Magic will run further, but I am planning to use up all her low grade races before venturing to Wenty with her.
"I named this greyhound after Matt Kwong, the veterinary surgeon at Richmond, who looks after this bitch for me and who is not only a capable vet, but is also a good bloke.''
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Demander Valley had no trouble stepping up to the 480m trip at Grafton on Monday, coming from last at box rise to win his heat of the Ladbrokes Red Dog Series.
Trained locally by Dave Irwin for owner Debbie Winters, Demander Valley railed into third place on the back straight and hit the front at the top of the straight to notch his fifth win in seven starts.
Demander Valley's previous wins had been over 407m at Grafton and 400m at Maitland and if he begins with his usual dash he looks the one to beat in Monday night's Red Dog final over the Grafton 480m trip.
Owner Debbie Winters also raced Demander Valley's dam Wattle Valley, who won 13 races for Tamworth trainer Ben Spence.
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HUNTER Valley trainer Jason MACKAY will unveil two outstanding unraced youngsters, Aston Sapporo and Mercury Calling, at Maitland tomorrow (Thursday).
MACKAY trains Aston Sapporo for Ray Borda, currently Australia's most successful owner, while western Sydney based breeder Caroline Hughes owns Mercury Calling.
MACKAY produced each greyhound in winning performance trials at Maitland last week, with Aston Sapporo zipping over the 400m in a slick 22.44 and Mercury Calling clocking a fast 25.13 over 450m.
They make their race debuts at Maitland in maiden events and with each of MACKAY's pair drawing box one, they will be red-hot favourites to land first-up victories.
