Alan Clare trained his first winning treble at Goulburn last Saturday and is hopeful one of those winners, Zeal Sensation, will give him first Wentworth Park success with the collar and lead.
Clare, 51, who is based at Nangus - "half way between Gundagai and Junee" - took out a third of the nine race Goulburn card when Zeal Sensation won over 350m in a slick 19.65 - .30sec outside Myrniong And All's course record - with litter siblings Keeping Faith and Curious Faith scoring over the same trip in 20.21 and 20.22 respectively.
He went within a half-length of notching a quartet of victories with another of his team, Fort Kembla, finishing a close second.
"I have owned several Wentworth Park winners but haven't had success there as a trainer, although I'm hoping Zeal Sensation can rectify that in the months to come,'' Clare said.
"She clocked 19.84 in a trial at her first look at Goulburn and when I took her back for a second trial it was blowing a gale and she still ran 19.81.
"I'm very confident Zeal Sensation, who is the best of my seven dog team, will run 520m because at Goulburn she runs home in 13.10, which is very strong.
"I got involved with greyhounds when we were living at Dapto, and my sister was a school mate of Benny Howe, the son of leading trainer Ken Howe, who finished up training winners for me.
"Among the best greyhounds I owned was a stayer called Worth A Dash, who finished second in an 860m Richmond Marathon in June, 2002, and also contested a 959m Marathon at Wentworth Park.
"Since 1994 I have been training dogs myself after having a break from the sport and it was a big thrill to get three winners at Goulburn.''
Clare's trio of victories at Goulburn was trumped 24 hours later when Peter Sims, who has a far larger team in work, took out five races at Temora.
Sims, from Wagga, won over 330m with Short Ticket, Sycamore Iris, Princess Zeal and Chance Your Arm while taking out a 457m event with Moment Of Bliss.
"I always have been 12 and 14 race dogs in training but at present there are two dozen in the kennels, with many of them having just completed their education and about to commence racing,'' Sims said.
"Although I won five at Temora on Saturday and have won six races at a meeting there, it looks like I will have only Revelstone in the heats of the Ladbrokes GBOTATemora Cup on February 28.
"Revelstone has won in 29.78 and 29.88 at Wentworth Park and was having his second run from a long spell when he won over 330m at Temora on January 24.
"I stepped him up to 457m last Saturday but he had no luck, finishing third after being dragged down during the race.''
Malcolm Ross has been declared the GBOTA's Lismore Trainer of the Year for 2020, and with 70 victories during that 12 months it's no surprise he took out the title.
"My wife Helen and I came up to the Northern Rivers 10 years ago and 2020 was by far the most successful 12 months we have enjoyed, with 29 winners our previous best,'' Ross said.
"While Phantom Clyde, who has won 15 from 23 starts remains a great favourite, our best dog potentially is undoubtedly Jimary Star, who won over 420m at Lismore on Monday in 23.89 and who runs out a strong 520 metres.''
