Marvin's Girl is the first greyhound Margaret and Vince Candi have owned but she has given the Sans Souci couple an instant crack at group one glory by qualifying for Thursday night's $75,000 to the winner Sportsbet Dapto Megastar.
Marvin's Girl, who was runner-up in Light And Lily's heat and has box three in the final, is a noted fast beginner and boasts an impressive record of 10 wins and 10 placings from 25 starts.
While she is the first greyhound her owners have raced, Marvin's Girl is the third Dapto Megastar finalist for trainer Garry Edwards.
"Double Twist, who shared NSW Greyhound of the Year honours in 2013, was sixth to Peter Rocket in that year's Megastar final, while I also trained Maya Herrera, who was fourth to Let It Develop in the 2016 Megastar,'' Edwards said.
"Vince was a fan of my bitch Double Twist, and became a regular at Wentworth Park whenever she raced there.
"When he and Margaret bought Marvin's Girl she was the last puppy left in a litter whelped in April, 2019, by FernAndo Bale from my good race bitch Twist Me Over.
"Marvin's Girl will be one of the outsiders in the Megastar but is capable of pinging the lids and in her heat she did not come out as fast as she can, she seemed to jump on the wrong leg.
"So if she nails the start in the final and leads around the first turn anything can happen,'' Edwards said.
While fastest qualifier Zipping Kyrgios and Sound Of Silence, whose amazing performance to come from the back of the field to win his heat, dominate betting on the Megastar, another trainer giving his greyhound a chance is Mark Gatt.
Gatt trains Ritza Donna, who had box seven when second to Sound Of Silence in her heat but who has drawn two in the final.
"Ritza Donna definitely has a better draw in the final and she really likes Dapto, she has had four wins and six placings from 11 starts there,'' Gatt said.
"I'm hoping she can get away cleanly and beat Sound Of Silence to the first turn.
"If she can do that and be up near the early lead, I'll be looking around to see where Sound Of Silence and Zipping Kyrgios are on the back straight.''
Darren Hull completed eight years as Bulli racing manager on Friday following 12 years in a similar role at Wagga track.
At Bulli Hull has overseen more than 400 race meetings along with 300 south coast community market and festival events.
"Bulli racecourse has become the events capital of the Illawarra region,'' a justifiably proud Hull said.
"The GBOTA has Wollongong Council's licence to run Bulli so we have markets at the track every Saturday and Sunday.
"We also host major annual affairs, including the vintage motorcycle festival, which is held on the last weekend each August, music events and the Illawarra Wood Festival, which features all things pertaining to wood, such as woodworking workshops.''
When it comes to nominating the best greyhounds he has seen racing at Bulli during his tenure as manager, Hull, 56, plumped for record holders Aston Dee Bee and Pindari Express along with Melbourne Cup winner Ando's Mac.
"Ando's Mac only raced three times at Bulli, in 2016 and 2017, but he won them all,'' Hull said.
