Tennessee Tiger had seemed to "train off'' three weeks ago so trainer Mark Gatt gave his crack sprinter a short break and was rewarded when the dog came from last to win Saturday night's main race at Bulli.
Tennessee Tiger took his record to 12 wins from 30 starts when he defeated the fast finishing Defy and Group 1 Paws Of Thunder winner King Cratos in the 457m event.
The winner clocked 26.38s, matching the time recorded by boom youngster Here Comes Joe although well wide of the astonishing 26.06 posted by the previously unraced Milakai in Saturday's opening 472m race.
"Tennessee Tiger showed his usual poor box manners on Saturday but I was happy to see him drive up underneath a couple of dogs during the race,'' trainer Mark Gatt said.
"He did it at the first turn and again on the home bend, something he does not often do.
"There had been nothing amiss with the dog but I got the feeling he had trained off a bit so I eased him up and gave him a couple of trials up the straight at Appin.
"When I have done that in the past Tennessee Tiger has really fired up when I have brought him back to the races.''
Here Comes Joe was having his first race since being scratched from the Group 1 Ladbrokes National Derby final due to a spider bite.
"It was so serious that Here Comes Joe almost died,'' Norm Estephan, whose father Joe, owns and trains the dog said.
"Before Saturday night he had not been trialling quite as fast as normal so the Bulli race was going to give us a guide to how well Here Comes Joe was going to come back.''
The mighty mighty Pindari Express recorded 26.11 at his first Bulli 472m win in January, 2018, so Milakai's performance in posting 26.06 on Saturday was indeed noteworthy.
Trained at Kanahooka, near Dapto, by Greg Remfry, Milakai had made only one public appearance prior to Saturday's fixture, finishing third in a performance trial at Bulli on November 16.
In that hit-out Milakai was third away but after surging to a narrow lead early, was checked and dropped back to wind up two lengths from the winner in 26.96.
On Saturday Milakai showed tremendous early pace and led throughout, trouncing a particularly strong 472m maiden lineup.
While his crack sprinter King Cratos was defeated, trainer Jason Magri landed a winning double at Bulli with Tapper Keeping and Zipping Sultan.
Tapper Keeping led throughout over 400m in a sizzling 22.28 while Zipping Sultan came from behind to score over 472m in 26.22.
"Tapper Keeping was having his first start for me and he had been set to begin his career in the Group 3 Magic Maiden heats at Wentworth Park on March 25,'' Magri said.
"When they were called off I went to Bulli with him and I think he has a future.
"Tapper Keeping is a litter brother to GINA Keeping, who won for me in 22.36 and 22.38 at Bulli last month.
"I like both those greyhounds a lot because they have terrific early pace and are only babies, just 20 months old.
"Zipping Sultan's win on Saturday was very good because he bungled the start and then tried to veer left, before he straightened up and finished strongly to beat a good field.''
