Owen Langley trained Over Flo to win a Wentworth Park match race series just over 15 years ago and gives his latest star Poacher a good chance of pulling off the rare double by posting fastest time in Saturday night's Christmas Gift.
Poacher will take on Ebby Jet Power over 520m, with the winner taking home $5000 and the runner-up $500, while fastest victor from the four match races will earn an additional $10,000.
Langley's 2005 group 1 Peter Mosman Classic winner Over Flo downed BENNY's Toll in the August, 2005 match race final at Wentworth Park, and according to the Berkshire Park trainer Poacher will be at his peak for Saturday night.
"He had a minor injury after his last run on November 28 but is absolutely flying now,'' Langley said.
"A fortnight ago Poacher trialled sensationally at Lithgow and then last Sunday I again put him over 414m there.
"The track had been turned over so it wasn't fast but Poacher clocked 24.18, not far outside the record of 23.91.
"I was really pleased with his run because on the same day Buck's Future, a group 1 winner who practically lives on the Lithgow track, trialled 24.44.
"When the match-ups were being decided I was hoping Poacher would draw a 'get out and go' dog so he could sit just behind it and he has got one in Ebby Jet Power.''
Michael Eberand, Ebby Jet Power's trainer, said: "I would have preferred to have my other sprinter Ebby Infrared in the race but Power got the draw ahead of him.
"I still give Ebby Jet Power a great chance because in match races most experts believe the strong finishers are suited because they get an uninterrupted trail behind the pacemakers.
"But it doesn't always work out like that because if the front-runner is getting under the 30sec mark it is always going to be hard for his opponent to catch him.''
Here's Tears, winner of this year's Sydney and Newcastle Cups double, looks the dog to beat in Saturday night's $15,000 to the winner NSW GBOTA Christmas Cheer over 720m.
Here's Tears was prominent all the way but raced wide from box one in defeating By Five Helen and Zipping Truvy in the listed Newcastle Cup over 715m at LADBROKES GARDENS on December 11.
On that performance the Robert Britton-trained greyhound seems well positioned in box seven on Saturday night, but Here's Tears' statistics indicate that may not be the case.
The dog has been victorious in just one of nine appearances while wearing the black rug.
Zipping Truvy, who came from a distant seventh on the back straight when beaten just under two lengths in the Newcastle Cup, looms as the Victorian's toughest rival despite drawing box five.
"Zipping Truvy won't mind having an empty box on her right but the big thing in her favour is that she is back at Wentworth Park,'' said trainer Rob Tyler.
"She absolutely loves the place and even though she has recently been acquitting herself well at Dapto and The Gardens, those tracks are really a bit tight for her.
"And while formerly she always wanted to go underneath her opponents, she is now quite content to go around her rivals.
"That is a good thing in 720m races at Wenty because if a greyhound is trying to rail inside another dog on the top turn it often gets chopped off.
"My only concern is that I haven't been able to give Zipping Truvy a 720m trial at Wenty or even a box-to-box there, because due to injuries she is a day-to-day proposition.''
