Laporte was clearly fastest qualifier for Sunday's Red Dog Fifth Grade final at Grafton but trainer Stephen Attwater reckons an outside draw is essential if his greyhound is to repeat his heat performance.
"He has to have an outside box or he is 100/1,'' Attwater said.
"In his heat Laporte drew box six but even from there he headed towards the outside fence when he jumped.
"For the first 50m Laporte is not over endowed with early speed but then he accelerates.
"When he got away reasonably well in his heat it was the best he has jumped.
"John Dart trained Laporte for his first few races but gave him to me to look after around three months ago.
"John and I go back a long way because I trained a dog called Blue Dart for him, and that greyhound was a $1.60 favourite when runner-up to Pretty Malaika in the 2011 Tweed Heads Galaxy final at Border Park.''
Despite his wide running trait, Laporte has won 14 of 31 races and is displaying the same tenacity shown by his namesake, the Puerto Rican boxer Juan Laporte, who won the world featherweight title in 1982 and won 22 of his 40 victories by knockout.
Attwater, a 73-year-old retired house painter, secured his first greyhound as a 15-year-old teenager and has not been without a dog or two ever since.
Chloe Bilal must surely have set a record at Bulli on Monday by landing a winning double just two months after becoming a trainer.
Bilal won 400m races with Joshua Keeping in a nippy 22.62 and with Springview Chief, who clocked a smart 22.55.
Joshua Keeping, winner now of five from 21 races, is a new acquisition for Bilal as is Springview Chief, whose seven wins include a double at Wentworth Park in May for his previous trainer Michael Hardman.
"I had gained a few placings over the previous month and was so excited to win with Joshua Keeping,'' said 30-year-old Bilal.
"But when Springview Chief gave me a double so soon after taking out my trainer's licence I was absolutely over the moon.
"I am training a team of 20 greyhounds on a 12ha property at Wollogorang, which is near the township of Collector and is 20 minutes from Goulburn.
"I intend making training my fulltime job and will head to Wentworth Park early in the New Year with dogs like Springview Chief.
"My grandfather Kevin Patman trained greyhounds so I guess the sport is in my blood.''
