Trainer CHRIS O'Brien must have left Wentworth Park on Saturday night wondering "what might have been" after his bitch Mortified nailed the start from box one and bolted away with the Free-For-All in a brilliant 29.62.
Just a week earlier Mortified's usually reliable box manners let her down when it counted and she missed the jump from box one as a $1.60 favourite for the group 1 Ladbrokes National Futurity, winding up fourth to Wyndra All Class in 29.86.
That race was worth $75,000 to the winner, a far cry from the $7000 on offer as the winner's cheque in Saturday night's event, which saw Wyndra All Class colliding at the start and at the first turn before finishing fifth, 11 lengths behind Mortified.
Mortified's 29.62 set the time standard on Saturday's 11-race card but second fastest figures were surprisingly posted by Energizer Miss, who registered her first Wentworth Park win in eight attempts.
Prepared by the Nowra track's 2023 Trainer of the Year Phil Goodsell, Energizer Miss came from third on the back straight to win a 520m fifth grade in a slick 29.83.
After the race, Goodsell said: "I nominated her for a 600m race at Dapto on Thursday but when there was no race available for her I threw her into this meeting at WP.
"Energizer Miss, who got her name through her incessant panting, has had no luck in several of her WP races.
"She has been knocked down a few times and I knew it was only a matter of her getting a clear run to show what she can do.
"Energizer Miss sometimes gets back in the field in the early stages of her races yet she can always trial 20.60 over 365m at Nowra, which is pretty quick.
"She is a litter sister to my 2023 Nowra Greyhound of the Year Mr Natural, and I intend building him up to 520m racing now.
"It is becoming too hard to find short course races for him.''
Sweet City Gal, who won her maiden race while in the kennel of her owner Ray Holt, landed her first win for new trainer Craig Chappelow when she led all the way to take out a 520m fifth grade on Saturday in 29.95.
"I told Ray she would need to run 30.20 or better if she was to have a chance in this strong field so it was pleasing to see her jump in front and break 30,'' Craig Chappelow said.
"At her previous start at Wentworth Park from box one on December 30, Sweet City Gal led but got run down and beaten narrowly in 30.54, but there were excuses for that loss.
"I had taken her kennelmate Embrace to Brisbane for a big race around that time so Sweet City Gal missed a bit of work, which could have been why she was found wanting at the finish that night.''
My Mate James' second win in just three Wentworth Park appearances on Saturday night had owner-trainer-breeder Mark Bell regretting he had not bred from the dog's dam when she last came in season.
"My Mate James is from the first litter whelped by my bitch Miss Wing Wong who was a good race bitch,'' Bell said.
"She won 19 races, including wins over both 520m and 720m at Wentworth Park, but when she last came in season I didn't know how good this first litter was going to be.
"Because it can be difficult to sell pups I didn't want to be stuck with another litter if her first puppies, sired by Aussie Infrared, were no good.
"But they are pretty handy and while My Mate James has won twice at WP he is not as quick as his litter brother Concreter James, who hasn't raced at Wentworth Park yet but who has had four starts at Dapto for me for three wins and a second.''
