Nangar Larry, once slightly suspect at the end of 520m, earned a crack at the Group 1 Ladbrokes Paws Of Thunder with a personal best 29.66 performance at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
Nangar Larry (pictured) railed underneath early leader Johnny Red going through the catching pen to hit the front on the back straight and came away to win the Happy Birthday Enrico top grade by three lengths in 29.66.
After the race trainer Andy Lord said: "The Paws Of Thunder, which gets underway with heats at Wentworth Park on January 13, is Nangar Larry's mission.
"He is racing a lot better now because he used to flick his tail as he went around the bends and then was lacking slightly at the end of 520m, but we have rectified that.''
Even quicker than Nangar Larry on Saturday night was the much improved Kangaroo Jack, who came out running and led all the way to easily win the Ladbrokes Bet Ticker fifth-grade final in a flying 29.61.
Kangaroo Jack fulfilled the bold prediction by trainer Syd Swain who was quoted in Friday's Wentworth Park preview on GRNSW's thedogs website as saying: "If he comes out cleanly he will run the hands off the clock.''
Swain, never one to sit back and say nothing, copped some good-natured flak over that forecast but he was totally vindicated when Kangaroo Jack followed his hard-won 29.90 heat success with Saturday's dazzling performance.
Off The Richter, who is eligible for the January 12 heats of the Group 1 Ladbrokes National Derby, produced an outstanding performance to score his second Wentworth Park win in three outings on Saturday night.
The Gary Stewart-trained Off The Richter trailed Toad's Turnpike to the back straight but accelerated away at that point to score by five lengths in a personal best 29.78.
But what would have especially pleased the dog's connections was his sensational run home figures of 11.63.
Tarawi Maple's early speed enabled her to score her second successive sub-30sec Wentworth Park win in Saturday night's Ladbrokes Odds Surge Stakes.
Tarawi Maple won in 29.95 at Wentworth Park on December 22 and clocked 29.98 on Saturday.
After the race Troy MacDonald, whose mother-in-law Lorraine Atchison trains Tarawi Maple, said: "I thought she might go a bit quicker tonight so maybe around 29.90 is her mark.
"Even so, when she can run splits of 5.40 and 13.87 like she did tonight she will win plenty of races.''
The fastest time on Saturday was posted by Go Bears, a new addition to Jay Opetaia's kennels, who recorded his fifth Wentworth Park win while clocking 29.53 in a 520m fourth and fifth grade.
Not much slower was Zipping Maserati, with the Marty Hallinan-owned and trained veteran posting his 28th win in start number 69 with a 29.59 romp in Saturday's Masters event.
