A blood disorder interrupted Canya Wilder's career after the dog's close second to Gatlin in the group 1 Ladbrokes Vic Peters Classic final at Wentworth Park on July 9 but the exciting young sprinter is back and is boxed to take out tonight's Easts Les Darcy Cup at Maitland.
Canya Wilder, who was third early but drove between the pacemakers to win his 400m heat last week in 22.45, will exit box one in the final, which is staged annually in honour of Maitland's most famous sportsman.
The middleweight boxer Les Darcy was born in Maitland and won 52 of 56 bouts before dying in Memphis, Tennessee in May, 1917, aged just 21, when on the cusp of a great international career.
In last week's Cup heats Mr Determine was fastest qualifier ahead with a 22.34 performance, followed by Canya Wilder's 22.45 with Kitty Keen leading throughout to win the other heat in 22.57.
But Canya Wilder overcame a rough passage from box six in his heat and will relish the move to box one tonight.
Canya Wilder's trainer John Thomas said: "Mr Determine is a fast 400m dog and if he spears to the lead from box six is capable of running 22 seconds flat.
"If he does that my dog will obviously be hard pressed beating him but Canya Wilder can go faster than he did in his heat and has trialled 22.22 over the Maitland 400m trip.
"After Canya Wilder chased Gatlin home in the Vic Peters my veterinary surgeon discovered there was a problem with his blood and advised me to turn him out for a month.
"I had been hoping to nominate him for the heats of the Young Star series next Saturday night but there wasn't enough time to have him ready to run 520m at Wenty Park.
"This preparation I'm expecting Canya Wilder to get down to 29.70 or 29.80 at Wentworth Park.''
Thomas, who is based at Lansdowne, near Taree, recently made a comeback to training after a stellar career spanning six decades.
"I got my trainer's licence when I was 16 and I'm now 76,'' Thomas said.
"I've been blessed with some good greyhounds like Winston Lass, who I trained to win the group 1 Paws Of Thunder at Wentworth Park in 1983, Winning Jim, the 1993 Tweed Heads Galaxy winner, Winston Lad who won the Victorian St Leger, Black Russian, winner of 16 from 22 races, and Denver, who won the Gold Coast Cup on the old Parklands track.
"When Denver won that Queensland race the first prize included a world trip and the dog's owner, Michael Wales, gave me 50 per cent of the value of that in cash.
"I've had a wonderful life training greyhounds and am grateful to leading Sydney trainers Jodie and Andy Lord, who suggested to Canya Wilder's owners, the Punters HQ Syndicate, that I train their dog.''
Lochinvar Lona earned a crack at the group 2 Black Top at LADBROKES GARDENS with his sizzling, personal best 29.58 winning performance at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
Lochinvar Lona is raced by the Gordon family, who have long been staunch supporters of the Newcastle track and would dearly love to see their up-and-coming sprinter contest the course's biggest sprint of the year.
Heats of the Black Top will be run on September 30 with the $40,000 to the winner final on October 7.
"There is a short run to the first corner at The Gardens so it's essential I take Lochinvar Lona there for a trial before the heats,'' trainer Ruth King said.
"Before he blew the start and finished fifth at Wentworth Park on September 3 he had clocked a flying 24.04sec in a post-to-post hit-out at Wenty so I wasn't surprised he went so quick on Saturday night.''
