Dual Keroma, who lost four months of his racing career due to a severe virus, completed a remarkable comeback with a fastest time of the night win at Wentworth Park on Saturday.
Trained by Susan Pitstock, Dual Keroma notched his 11th Wentworth Park win when he led throughout in the Free-For-All, covering the 520m in a Blistering 29.64sec.
Those figures were .01 better than the dog's best time in 26 previous Wenty outings, while his sectional figures of 5.46, 13.80 and 17.89 also pleased Pitstock.
"Dual Keroma is four-and-a-half years old but is actually going better than at any stage of his life,'' Pitstock said.
"I had been concerned about his weight because prior to contracting the virus he was racing at 32.1 to 32.4kg but last week, when he was an unlucky second at Wentworth Park, and tonight, he weighed in at 33.8 and 33.7.
"But my veterinary surgeon, who I have a lot of faith in, assured me there was nothing amiss that was causing Dual Keroma to put on weight, and that the dog was simply thriving.''
Saturday night's training honours were with Mark Gatt, who scored with Shanjo Prince in 29.94 and with Blistering in 30.19.
Shanjo Prince, usually a mediocre beginner, came out running from box eight and led throughout to score by a half-length from Bobby The Brute, trained by Gatt's pal Tim Caines, while Tennessee Tiger, a litter brother and kennelmate to the winner, was a mere half-length away third.
"It was a terrific race wasn't it,'' Gatt said of the thrilling three-way duel.
"Box eight won the race for Shanjo Prince because like his brother Tennessee Tiger and their sister Ritza Vonnie, which I also train, they are all desperate for the extreme outside alley.
"They seem to know when they draw their favourite box because the only time Tennessee Tiger has come out fast, like Shanjo Prince did tonight, was when he led all the way from box eight.''
Cullinan, described by owner Ash Quirk as "clumsy'' and a poor beginner, finally nailed the start to notch her third WP win and record her fastest time at the track, 29.88, in a 520m fifth grade on Saturday.
"When she jumped second from box seven tonight, that was the best Cullinan has ever come out,'' Quirk said later.
"She can run like the wind but is not only a bad box dog, but is also clumsy.
"Trainer John Finn trialled her against another of his team at Richmond earlier this week and Cullinan climbed all over the back of the other dog as she was trying to get around it.''
Midnight Joyce's win in a 720m heat of the Ladbrokes Monthly Medal delighted trainer Mark Swift, not just because she opened her long-distance account at WP, but because she did not throw the race away by crashing to the rails.
Midnight Joyce was third early but with a lap to go, swept around the pacemakers Federal Elle and Winlock Ramirez and dashed clear entering the catching pen.
She then careered away to win by 10 lengths.
"I was happy to see her actually go around her opponents like she did tonight,'' Swift said.
"Midnight Joyce is a mad railer, and gets so close the fence that if I take her to a new trial track for a run, I walk her around the course beforehand because otherwise she is liable to hit the running rail.''
Another greyhound to post her best Wentworth Park time on Saturday was the JODIE Lord-trained El Rapido, who led throughout to win the opening 520m race in 29.82, .12sec inside her previous fastest figures.
Peter Sims, who works for Lord and handled some of her greyhounds on Saturday, said: "El Rapido uses a bit of the track but she is improving all the time.''
