Sydney's Minnie Finn is giving her finalist Might Have Been every chance in Saturday night's National Sprint Championship at Angle Park.
Finn took Might Have Been, who is seeking to emulate her late husband John Finn's 1991 National Sprint Championship victory with Jessica Casey, to Adelaide on Sunday.
No wonder Finn is happy with Might Have Been's box seven final draw as he wore the black rug when he demolished his rivals in the NSW Sprint Championship at Wentworth Park on August 8, rocketing over the 520m in 29.39.
"I trialled him over the Angle Park Championship course of 530m on Monday night and he clocked 30.58,'' Finn said.
"I was satisfied with his run because due to the different start, he didn't begin as well as he can.
"I'll stay in Adelaide all week to give him every chance on Saturday, rather than travelling back and forth.''
The Angle Park track record of 29.86 is shared by a pair of champions, Victa Damian and Wow She's Fast.
It's not surprising that Troy Vella, who trained Monday's impressive Maitland winner No Restrictions, became a greyhound trainer, as his parents were involved in the career of a former champion.
"My parents owned a 10 percent share in Ultra Sense, who won the inaugural Golden Easter Egg in 1990,'' Vella explained.
"They secured their interest through being friends with Ultra Sense's owner Arch Leverton.
"Although mum and dad never trained any greyhounds, their involvement in such a great bitch as Ultra Sense fuelled my interest in the sport.
"So 25 years ago I took out my trainer's licence.
"Clearly the best dog I have trained is Belfast Johnny, who won the 2013 final of the group 1 Vic Peters Classic at Wentworth Park in 29.63, which at the time was a new race record.''
No Restrictions was educated in Victoria but from his first three starts managed only a third placing in a 400m maiden at Geelong.
After being transferred to Vella's kennels, No Restrictions has been a revelation, winning seven races, four of them in the fastest time of the meeting.
But just 24 hours after Monday's Maitland win, No Restrictions was sent to leading Melbourne trainer David Geall to pursue his career.
"I'm terribly disappointed to lose him because last Monday at Maitland was the first time he had been tested beyond 401m,'' Vella said.
"He won over 450m in smart time and I was confident he would get 520m at Wentworth Park, because he is improving all the time.''
