NSW star Are Jai Que has run her last race.
The sensational beginner suffered an injury when she failed to finish as an odds-on favourite at Richmond on Friday night in the race won by Fancy Tee.
The winner of 19 from 32 starts, Are Jai Que scored victories at Wentworth Park.
She won 10 of her first 12 starts and also registered wins at Canberra, Goulburn, Richmond, Bathurst and Dapto.
Are Jai Que was due to be operated on today and will now be bred with.
"When she recovers Are Jai Que will be rested and when she comes in season hopefully her owners can get some puppies from her," trainer Michael Clayton said.
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Mario Azzopardi, older Brother of leading trainer Anthony Azzopardi, landed his first Wentworth Park winner in 12 years as a trainer when Myrniong Socks led throughout at the Glebe circuit last Wednesday night.
And while Anthony has won a swag of Group races, including the recent Black Top and Canberra Cup finals with Uno Suzie, he rated his 58-year-old Brother's first city success as being "up there with the biggest thrills I have ever had with greyhounds.''
"I couldn't get to Wentworth Park on Wednesday but watched the race on Sky," Anthony said. "When Myrniong Socks won, I literally jumped off the lounge with joy.
"When Mario retired from being a poultry farmer and decided to concentrate on trying to win a race in the city I agreed to help him by getting a couple of decent dogs so he could learn.
"I said I wasn't going to give him top notchers but would see that he got some greyhounds with enough ability to win races if he learned how to train them.
"Terry Kingcott, who owns many of the best greyhounds in my kennels, agreed to let Mario train Myrniong Socks and Myrniong Belle for him, and they have now won nine races between them.
"Myrniong Belle finished second at Wentworth Park last Wednesday and Myrniong Socks came out a couple of hours later to give Mario his first city win.''
When I caught up with Mario Azzopardi 12 hours after he trained his first city winner he was still as excited as if he had won a Golden Easter Egg.
"More than any thing I wanted to train a city winner for the memory of my wife Mary, who passed away two years ago,'' he said.
"She was a wonderful supporter when I was working hard and training as a hobby and would always be at Wentworth Park when my previous best dog, Gambling Hand, was racing in 2011.
"But while Gambling Hand ran a string of placings in town he could not manage to win one in the city.''
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Midnight Kate will compete at next month's annual Coonamble carnival following her near record 516m win at Dubbo on Thursday.
Having only her third start, the 18-month-old youngster won in 29.60, a mere .01sec outside the record held by Tricky Jade.
"She is eligible for a two to five wins race at Coonamble so we'll tackle that with her, then I'll probably trial her at Wentworth Park before turning her out for a spell,'' trainer David Pringle said yesterday.
"When she returns we'll be heading to Wentworth Park with her because Thursday's near record run was no surprise, I expected her to give the record a shake providing she got a clear run.''
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A stint in the boarding kennels owned by trainer Allan Manwaring resulted in Stilton Gold, who landed her first Wentworth Park win last Wednesday night, becoming a lucky acquisition for the Nowra Hill trainer.
After being placed in two of three previous WP starts for Manwaring and owner Melanie Bolwell, Stilton Gold led throughout to defeated the consistent Phixius by a half length in a tidy 30.17.
The Bolwell family also race the top class sprinter Stilton Blue, who has won 15 races for Phil Goodsell, another south coast trainer.
"Like Stilton Blue, Stilton Gold was being trained by Phil but she came in season after a race at Dapto in May,'' Manwaring said.
"She was sent to my boarding kennels for her seasonal spell but during that time the Bolwells had some unraced youngsters they wanted Phil to take.
"When it came time for Stilton Gold to return to racing, Phil Goodsell's kennels had been filled up by the new arrivals so Stilton Gold finished up being transferred to my care.''
Manwaring, whose biggest win was with My Bella Rose in a $75,000 to the winner Country Motor Company Dapto Puppy Auction Classic, has a long background in the sport.
His late father Les Manwaring, also a trainer, was president of the new defunct Queanbeyan Greyhound Club and later took over as president of Canberra when that club found itself in difficulty.
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Litter Brother and sister Expressive and Superbly took their combined tally to four wins from seven starts when Superbly scored in a nippy 30.05 over 520m at Dapto on Thursday.
Owner-trainer Craig Chappelow bred the pair from his former smart race bitch Surpassing, who won six from 20 races and is a litter sister to the great Goodesy, sire of Jason Fletcher's Dapto record holder Fantastic Dotty.
Expressive's two wins have been over 400m at Bulli with his quickest time being a brilliant 22.33sec, underlining the importance of a good dam line.
Chappelow certainly has acquired that via Frosty Fruits, the dam of Goodesy and whose male and female offspring continue to produce top notch greyhounds.
