He may not have been on track on Saturday, but Mark Gatt certainly made his presence felt on a wet night at Wentworth Park.
The Thirlmere trainer has been enjoying tremendous success with his team of late, and that success continued in the NSW State Championships Sprint heats.
Mark’s brother Daniel was charged with taking the team to Wentworth Park, and he headed home with a perfect record from the heats, boxing one greyhound in each heat, and winning both.
First up it was the in-form Ritza Coen, winning his sixth race in succession, storming home to claim last year’s TAB Million Dollar Chase winner and defending NSW Sprint champion, Good Odds Harada and win the opening heat in 29.96s.
Less than half an hour later, it was two from two for the Gatts, when Ritza Gloria - coincidentally also wearing the black rug just as Ritza Coen had - caused an upset at big odds, holding off a late charge from Zipping Bram to win her heat in 30.08s.
Goulburn’s Mick Hardman also qualified two runners for the final, Zipping Bram and Nangar Kash. Last year he also qualified a pair for the State Sprint final, Nangar Kash running second to Good Odds Harada, and Nanagr Blaze finishing unplaced.
The eight qualifiers will now meet in Thursday’s NSW State Championships Sprint, with not only the State title at stake, but this year the winner also obtains a ticket straight into the TAB Million Dollar Chase semi-finals on October 9.
