Battling trainer Joe Comito was at a school reunion on the Gold Coast when his greyhound Hold Me Up scored the most important of his nine wins at Wentworth Park last Saturday night.
Hold Me Up led throughout to win heat 10 of the Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg in 29.87, far and away his fastest time in nine Wentworth Park appearances.
"My school reunion was organised six months ago and I booked to go, not expecting to have a starter in a race like the Golden Easter Egg,'' Comito said.
"I have been tearing my hair out for past few weeks over Hold Me Up's box draws because he is desperate for the rails.
"When he drew box three at Maitland on March 7 I thought he could win and he did, by a length at $34.
"Box one helped him a lot on Saturday too but his quick time did not really surprise me because at his first post-to-post hand-slip Hold Me Up clocked 24.07, which is very quick.
"I bred Hold Me Up after Jimmy Coyle gave me his brood bitch Funky Punk in exchange for some pups from her subsequent litters.''
When Kayla-Jane COLEMAN led Tachycardic out for heat eight of the Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg last Saturday night she was hoping to pick up a $2000 second prize cheque or the $1500 third prizemoney.
So COLEMAN was "pretty pumped" after the greyhound she and her husband Shaun Evans bred led throughout in 29.90, breaking 30sec for the first time at Wentworth Park.
"Shaun and I have been struggling with injuries and have not been winning much prizemoney lately so we were banking on Tachycardic earning something for us,'' COLEMAN said.
"When you are not expecting to win the thrill is a lot bigger but I was surprised Tachycardic was at $51.
"I don't punt so I'm not concerned about that but the dog has run 29.79 at Dapto and 26.21 at Bulli so it's not as if he hasn't got the ability.
"Until Saturday I had rated Wentworth Park as his least favourite track even though he had won twice and run eight placings there.
"But I took him away from Wenty for six weeks and maybe racing at Bulli and Dapto in February and March refreshed his brain as far as the city track was concerned because his previous best time there was 30.08 in January.''
In a touching display of sportsmanship, Minnie Finn, handler of her husband John's unplaced favourite Zipping Kyrgios reached out and gave her pal COLEMAN a big hug as the trainers walked back towards the catching pen after the race.
