Fire Legend finished third in the Masters Meteor final at Wentworth Park on May 7 but trainer Mark Moroney has declared "he is now a better dog" after the greyhound posted his 50th win on Monday at Maitland.
Mark Moroney's durable warrior continued his march towards the next $100,000 Masters Meteor when he came from second early to win over 400m in 22.38, fastest time of the meeting, lifting his earnings to more than $250,000 after 112 races.
Fire Legend was the pacemaker in the Masters Meteor final at Wentworth Park on May 7 when he was minor placegetter behind Angry Blizzard and Crazy Old Goat and is on target to be in the September 24 final at headquarters.
"He is a better dog now because he had wrist problems a few months back and those are now a thing of the past,'' Moroney said.
"Fire Legend has been beaten only once since his third to Angry Blizzard in the May 7 Meteor, winning 13 of 14 races, including his past 10 in succession.
"And those wins were not all in masters races, he even beat Typhoon Sammy in the Grafton Sprinters Cup, not bad for a four-and-a-half year old greyhound.''
Trainer Billy Dance watched his bonny bitch Ibrox Wildfire win her heat of Monday's Maitland Million Dollar Chase at Maitland from his hospital bed.
Dance had both knees replaced last Thursday and was still hospitalised while his wife Cathleen took Ibrox Wildfire to Maitland.
"Ibrox Wildfire has drawn box four in next week's Maitland regional final so that is no gimme but she is racing with so much confidence right now she can probably make her own luck,'' Dance said.
"Cath told me on Tuesday morning Ibrox Wildfire was jumping out of her skin again and she has never been better, so hopefully she can at least fill a place in Monday's regional final and earn a spot in the MDC semi-finals at Wentworth Park on September 16.''
Dance is entitled to feel upbeat about Ibrox Wildfire's prospects in MDC semis at Wentworth Park as her 15 appearances at headquarters have resulted in six wins, seven seconds and a third, with a scorching personal best 520m time of 29.55.
Shelley Trengove, who with husband Clint has four of the eight qualifiers in Sunday's Broken Hill regional final of the Million Dollar Chase, has declared their former Sydney dog Teddy The Bear as the pick of their finalists.
Teddy The Bear won his heat in 30.48 with Red Reactor, trained at Toolleen, Victoria by Daniel Pell, taking out the other heat in 30.31.
Teddy The Bear, formerly trained in Sydney by Alan Proctor for Michael Jones, has a wealth of WP experience where he had 28 races for five wins and seven placings, with a personal best 520m time of 29.87.
"I took out my trainer's licence seven years ago while I was living at Broken Hill but now my husband Clint and I have 40 greyhounds in work at Lewiston, South Australia,'' Shelley Trengove said.
"My cousin Clayton Langdon bought Teddy The Bear for not a lot of money and he has won his past five races for us and Angle Park and Broken Hill.''
The Trengoves' other finalists on Sunday are Howling Hoss, Safe Drop and Molly Blinders.
Simply Limelight, beaten a head by Good Odds Cash in Saturday night's National Sprint Championship final at Wentworth Park, dislocated two bones on a hind foot during the race and will be out of action for at least six weeks.
"It's gut wrenching because it means he will miss a heap of big races, notably the Million Dollar Chase,'' trainer Peter Rodgers said.
