Count On Me became the course record holder and the first greyhound to break the 18sec barrier when he clocked 17.99 to win over 320m on the new Richmond track on Friday.
Count On Me's sizzling performance capped a big night for trainer Justin King and owner Mark Merlino, a rails bookmaker at the thoroughbreds and the "last bookie standing" at Wentworth Park.
The pair also won at Richmond with Count On Me's litter sister My Sienna, who scored over 400m in 22.99.
"Count On Me is a smart short course dog who has now won six of only 13 starts,'' owner Merlino said.
"Although he was whelped in March, 2019, a sequence of setbacks has kept him sidelined for much of his career.
"But Friday's was a timely win because the race was worth $7000 to the winner, not bad prizemoney for a fifth grade at Richmond.''
Merlino has been part of the greyhound racing scene since taking out a bookie's licence in 1980 while he has been among the leaders of the betting ring at metropolitan horse racing since 1996.
While he enjoys working at the races, greyhounds have always been Merlino's real passion, not surprising considering his mother Rita has been a highly successful owner, breeder and trainer.
John Finn's champion blue dog Zipping Kyrgios scored his 13th win in 27 Wentworth Park appearances on Saturday night but the Cranebrook trainer unveiled another blue flyer when Zipping Lyris won on debut at Gosford last Tuesday night.
Zipping Lyris came out running to win her heat of the Ladbrokes Red Dog Maiden series, scoring by eight lengths and covering the 515m in 29.60, fastest of the three qualifying races for tomorrow (Tuesday) night's $10,000 to the winner final.
Zipping Lyris is a blue bitch whelped in October, 2020, and is by boom sire Zipping Garth from Shoshe, who was a dual Wentworth Park winner who was successful in six of just 30 races.
"The whole litter goes okay but the blue bitch (Zipping Lyris) has always been the quickest,'' John Finn's wife Minnie said.
Zipping Lyris has box five in tomorrow's final but won't have an easy task as the other heat winners, Matter Of Fact and Tiny Hands Johns, who recorded 29.65 and 29.68, respectively, have drawn seven and four.
Matter Of Fact, trained by Amanda Brunton, posted a slightly faster first split than Zipping Lyris, recording 4.45 as opposed to Finn's bitch's 4.48.
Matter Of Fact is a January, 2020, whelping by Fernando Bale from Nymeria, and is a litter sister and kennelmate of El Chorro, who was a distant second behind Zipping Lyris but should have finished much closer.
El Chorro, who has drawn three in the final, missed the jump and was badly checked in the early stages before rattling home to be runner-up.
Although Matter Of Fact was an easy all-the-way heat winner, trainer Amanda Brunton has declared El Chorro "by far" the quicker of the two siblings.
"El Chorro is still learning and if he ever jumps cleanly he will run fast time,'' Brunton said.
"I gave Matter Of Fact and El Chorro a post-to-post slip at Dapto, and while Matter Of Fact clocked a respectable 24.44, El Chorro ran 24.02, which is absolutely flying.
"This Gosford maiden final is going to be one heck of a race.''
