All track staff play a vital part at race meetings, especially on Million Dollar Chase night, but none is more crucial than the role assigned to the mechanical lure driver.
His or her expertise can make or break a race and Wentworth Park's Steve Kelly has been operating the lure at headquarters since 1989.
By the time he drove the lure for the 2009 Golden Easter Egg, Kelly estimated he had driven what was known as the "tin hare" in more than 62,000 races, so it is anybody's guess as to his current tally.
"The stewards like the lure to be around five metres in front of the leading dog,'' Kelly said.
"And the equipment has not changed much over the years.
"The motor driving the lure's speed has a dial not much bigger than a twenty-cent piece, similar to that used to dim an electric light.''
If the lure gets too far ahead or too close to the leading dog a race can be aborted, so Kelly has to be on his toes all the time.
"Obviously I never bet at a meeting where I am working, in fact the biggest bet I've had in my life was $50 on a family member's dog at Bathurst decades ago,'' Kelly said.
"Easiest greyhounds to drive for are those which maintain a relatively constant speed, whether they are top liners or fifth graders.
"The hardest I can recall was a group one winner who did not always Chase too keenly.
"One night in a trial at Wentworth Park, this dog, who could run like the wind when his mind was on the job, eased so often during his 520m hit-out he finished up clocking around 33 seconds, so that was a big test for me.''
The "Ex factor" from Victorian owner-breeders Amanda and Vince Tullio could play a big part in Friday night's Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase meeting at Wentworth Park.
They own the Jason Thompson-trained Explicit, favourite for the $1 million 520m final, along with Exploded, trained in NSW by Jason Mackay and among the top picks for the 720m group 2 Farrell's Sydney Cup.
"Explicit is well drawn in box seven and Exploded is suited near perfectly in box two,'' Vince Tullio said.
"Exploded could make the pace from in there but he doesn't have to lead to win, he can come from behind too.
"Explicit is really special because Jason Thompson has had a string of outstanding greyhounds and doesn't hesitate in saying this dog is the best he has trained."
Explicit
"He loves this dog so much, he even gets his bedding prepared for him and when he has to put him on the walker he carries him from his kennel to the machine.
"The odd thing about Explicit is that he does not run fast time when he trials solo.
"He just plods around the track but when the lights and the other dogs are up against him on race night Explicit turns into a beast!''
Exploded
None of Nangar Gypsy's 43 races have been beyond 520m but the Dennis Barnes-trained three-year-old is about to step up to a middle distance.
Nangar Gypsy continued her love affair with box two by coming from fourth on the home turn to win a top-grade event in a nippy 29.84 over 520m at Wentworth Park on Sunday.
It was her sixth win in eight appearances wearing the black and white striped rug and her fifth in a dozen Wentworth Park 520m starts.
But after the race trainer Dennis Barnes' wife Ann, who owns Nangar Gypsy and handled her on Sunday, said: "The way she got home in the straight tells me she is now ready to go over a longer trip.''
