Daisy's Girl, who overcame a bad check soon after the start to win Saturday night's $8000 to the winner Ladbrokes Lesley Ann Leonard Memorial final over 400m at Dubbo, will start stepping up in distance, beginning with a 450m hit-out at Bathurst.
Errol Hughes, who trains Daisy's Girl for legendary trainer Jack Smith's daughter Melissa, has now given the greyhound six starts for three wins and three placings.
"Melissa gave Daisy's Girl to me to train after she won a maiden race two months ago,'' Hughes said.
"Daisy's Girl didn't really fit in with Jack Smith's plans because with the top class greyhounds he has in work he is racing all over the place.
"Daisy's Girl has not been tried beyond 400m and I'm not certain she will go further so intend trialling her over 450m at Bathurst and take it from there.
"She had box seven when she won last Saturday night and from behind the boxes I saw her get a real whack as she tried to find the rails, so her win was very good.''
Trainer Mark Wilcox's decision to opt out of the 350m Goulburn Workers Club Fireball series with his promising sprinter Castle Warrior was vindicated when the dog set the time standard in last Sunday's heats of the 440m GRNSW Country Challenge.
Castle Warrior took his record to a super consistent 11 starts for five wins and six placings when he clocked 24.51 on Sunday, time which compared well with Cup winner Wow's 24.22 over the same trip.
After Castle Warrior won over 350m in a fast 19.51 at Goulburn on October 12 Wilcox resisted the temptation to start the dog in the Fireball heats.
"He is a bit inexperienced for that at this stage,'' Wilcox said at the time.
Castle Warrior will now chase the $10,000 first prizemoney in Friday's Country Challenge final, competing for the same stakes he would have been seeking in last Sunday's tougher Fireball final.
Zipping Kyrgios, who equalled the race record winning the recent Sires On Ice Black Top, showed he is ready to tackle the big races in Melbourne with a smart solo trial over 525m at The Meadows last Saturday.
The John Finn-trained Zipping Kyrgios clocked 29.86, fastest time of the night, while fellow NSW star, Jack Smith's Jungle Deuce, overcame a slow start and some bumping on the first corner to win a race over the same time in 29.89.
