Wild Flyer completed a dual code double for owner Steve Wilde when she became fastest heat winner of the Ladbrokes Richmond Oaks just 72 hours after his promising racehorse Wild Fortune scored her second win in four starts.
Wild Fortune, trained for Wilde by leading Newcastle thoroughbred trainer Kris Lee, won at Muswellbrook on Tuesday before Wild Flyer ran down Fire On Ice to win Friday night's Oaks heat for trainer Hank Vanderburg.
Wild Flyer had box eight in her sizzling 30.43 heat win and has come up with the same draw in Friday's final.
"If she does what she did in her heat she will be hard to toss,'' Vanderburg said.
"Going into the heats I was worried because Wild Flyer's previous couple of runs had been ordinary.
"But she reproduced her best form on Friday so there is no reason why she can't do the same in the final.
"Fire On Ice, who finished second to my bitch in the heat, has box five in the final but I rate her the one to beat because she has so much early pace.
"And my brother Leo's greyhound Sniffy, who finished a close second to Zest To Excel in her heat, is another danger because she also has early zip and has drawn box one.
"Boxes make a huge difference in big race finals.''
Wild Flyer's owner Steve Wilde, proprietor of a commercial air-conditioning business which employs a staff of 30, mixes owning greyhounds with his enthusiasm for thoroughbred racing.
"I own a dozen racehorses and six brood mares,'' Wilde said.
"I raced Scottish Border, who won $500,000 in stakes for trainer Gary Frazer, and I have a share in Graff, a group 3 winner who has earned over $1 million and also in Xerri, a promising two-year-old who is a Golden Slipper entry.
"My first greyhound was the George Borg-trained Dynamite Diesel, who won four races in 2016 and 2017, while Hank Vanderburg trained Hotplate for me, and that dog won the 2019 Richmond Cannonball final.''
Wilde also owns the promising maiden greyhound Bounce Back, who has been placed in three of four starts for Vanderburg, along with a pair of 11 month old half sisters to Wild-flyer">Wild Flyer.
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WHEN Djay Holden scored his 14th win and lifted his earnings to over $55,000 with an all-the-way performance at Wentworh Park on Saturday night, it was a lesson in patience for greyhound owners and breeders.
After the race trainer Vic Sultana revealed that Djay Holden had once been the slowest member of a litter whelped in April, 2016, by Don't Knocka Him from Ella Lezah.
"At breaking-in stage and even when the litter began racing, Djay Holden was clearly slower than any of his siblings,'' Sultana said.
"But he kept going, he kept chasing keenly, and he has wound up winning four races and being placed 16 times at WP.''
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Dandy Dale, who scored his 13th win at start number 99 on Saturday night at WP, is from the final litter whelped by Champness Gal, who could be considered something of a "super mum.''
Owner Daniel Zahra said at WP: "Champness Gal was the last city winner trained by the late Mal Norman when she scored at Wenty in October, 2013.
"She was a remarkable producer in that she produced massive litters of puppies.
"The smallest of her four litters comprised 10 youngsters while she had as many as 17 babies.
"Champness Gal is now retired from breeding and is a family pet.''
Clint Hazlett, who handled Dandy Dale on Saturday for his father, trainer Stuart Hazlett said: "He is a very under-rated dog who is no champion but is a good chaser and gives his best every time he races.''
