Starline Express, possibly the fastest dog in Australia up to 480m, heads to Grafton next Sunday as a prelude to tackling the heats of the Group 3 Grafton Cup over 450m on April 30.
Runner-up to Victa Damian after setting a scorching pace in the Ladbrokes National Derby over 520m at Wentworth Park on January 21, Starline Express was again the front-runner before being unplaced in the Sandown Launching Pad final over 515m on April 6.
The Reg Gardoll-trained Starline Express posted electrifying sections of 5.33 and 13.73 in the Derby and is endowed with such dazzling early speed he is entitled to be a hot pre-post favourite for the shorter Grafton Cup final on May 7.
Winning trebles has become fairly common for trainers but Shane Staples accomplished something special when he won three races with members of the same home-bred litter which were his only starters at his local Casino track last Thursday.
Staples won 300m races with Star Sirius in 16.76, Star Vega in 16.82 and Star Max in 16.84, taking the siblings' combined tally to 12 wins from 32 starts.
What's even more remarkable is his trio of winners were produced by a bitch Staples received as a gift from fellow trainer Mitch Northfield.
Staples, who quit working in the hotel industry to become a full-time greyhound trainer 12 years ago, said: "Two years earlier I had set up a greyhound breeding and training complex at Ellangowan, 15 minutes out of Casino.
"Mitch Northfield had a bitch called Kooringa Molly and he generously gave her to me.
"I managed to win seven races with her and when she came in season decided to breed from her.
"Leading trainer John Dart, who is a bit of a breeding buff, recommended I mate her to Aussie Infrared, assuring me that mating would be the perfect cross.
"His judgment was spot on because these Aussie Infrared pups are from Kooringa Molly's first litter and they are going great.
"They only turned two in December and I'm confident the trio which won at Casino will have no trouble running at least 400m.
"I'm not sure about 500m plus because while they are as physically fit as they can be I believe that mentally they still have a lot left in the tank.
"Because of how well her offspring was going, Evelyn and Len Harris bought Kooringa Molly to mate her to their former top notcher Cosmic Bonus.
"She had just two pups in her first litter to Cosmic Bonus, which are now 12 months old, while her following litter to him produced a dozen puppies, which are around four months of age.''
Another country trainer celebrating a winning treble is Nabiac's Allan Woods who won at LADBROKES GARDENS on Friday with Four Joans along with litter brother and sister Four Barrys and Mopoke.
Woods continued his winning streak 24 hours later when Half Past Tipsy, a litter sister to Four Barrys and Mopoke, led throughout to score her first Wentworth Park win, covering the 520m in a slick 29.82 after reeling off dazzling early splits of 5.37 and 13.72.
Woods nominated Four Barrys as the most talented of his three LADBROKES GARDENS winners, saying: "He has that good early speed, like a lot of his siblings.
"Four Barrys, Mopoke and Half Past Tipsy were produced by Wallan Baby, a bitch my wife Karen and I raced who had only five starts for only one win but who had a lot of ablity.
"We are training eight from Wallan Baby's December, 2020 litter to Keybow and seven of them have won races.
"While some tend to be a bit iffy at the end of 500m, they possess plenty of early dash which is always an asset.''
