Simply Limelight outrailed and outstayed Victoria's Baby Jaycee and WA's Custard Monelli to give western Sydney trainer Peter Rodgers his biggest success in 57 years in Saturday night's $300,000 to the winner Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg.
Simply Limelight went into the race as by far the most prolific Wentworth Park winner in the field, having won 16 of 38 appearances at headquarters, and he made full use of his knowledge of the course to overcame a slow start and win by nearly two lengths in 29.48 for the 520m.
Those figures equalled the race record time set by the great Fernando Bale in 2015 but were well wide of the new record of 29.27 posted by WA's Tommy Shelby in 2021.
Baby Jaycee began brilliantly from box one to set up a clear early lead but Simply Limelight, who was only sixth away, railed superbly going through the first bend when Custard Monelli, in second spot, drifted wide.
Simply Limelight accelerated into second position on the back straight and swept past Baby Jaycee approaching the home bend.
Before the race Peter Rodgers said: "I led my first greyhound out when I was just 10 years old and now I'm 67 so this is obviously the thrill of a lifetime.
"Simply Limelight drew box three in the Easter Egg and I wanted him either in box two or three, definitely not box one, not on a track like Wentworth Park.
"This dog began his career exactly 12 months ago in the Magic Maiden series and managed to finish second in the NSW National Sprint Championship at Wentworth Park despite breaking two toes.
"Simply Limelight has had some awful box draws and as a result has been bashed around a lot in his races, but he has never shirked his task, he is just a phenomenal chaser.
"Now I will get him ready for the group 3 Bob Payne Sprint heats at Wenty on April 29.''
Rookie stayer Zipping Orlando smashed a long standing race record to take out Saturday night's group 1 Farrell's Association Cup.
The John Finn-trained dog, having only his third Wentworth Park 720m test, jumped in front from box six and led throughout to beat Bandit Jane and Ritza Piper by four lengths in 41.53.
That shattered the race record of 41.78 set by Victoria's Sweet It Is in 2014.
After the race trainer John Finn's wife Minnie said: "We knew Zipping Orlando could stay but did not expect him to go quite that fast so early in his career as a long distance dog.
"We'll now get him ready for the Ladbrokes 715 at The Gardens, with heats on April 28 and the final, worth $500,000, on May 6.''
It was the second Association Cup victory for the Finn kennel, as John and Minnie trained Veloce Nero to win the 2019 final.
Boom puppy One Hot Bandit lived up to his stellar reputation with an all-the-way win in Saturday night's Ladbrokes Magic Maiden final, covering the 520m in 29.65, .03sec faster than he posted in his heat win on debut.
Trainer Andy Lord said later: "This dog will only get better too.
"Now his mission is the Nowra Puppy Classic, which gets under way with heats on April 16 and the final, worth $40,000, on April 22.''
Lord notched a winning double on Saturday's group race card when his dog Tommy Kade notched his seventh Wentworth Park win in 13 outings in the $40,000 to the winner Gartelmann Wines New Sensation.
Tommy Kade had clocked his personal best Wentworth Park time of 29.55 winning his New Sensation heat on March 29 but his 29.71 win on Saturday was probably more meritorious as he had to work hard to reach the lead going through the catching pen.
