GATLIN, the greyhound nobody wanted to train, raced his way into the record books by leading all the way in NSW's oldest age classic on Saturday night, taking out the group 1 Ladbrokes Vic Peters Classic at Wentworth Park.
Minnie Finn, wife of champion trainer John Finn, took over Gatlin's training just over two months ago and timed the dog's preparation to perfection, with Gatlin placed in his only two WP appearances before Saturday's win in 29.94.
Gatlin's early pace won him Saturday's final as he jumped smartly from box one and reeled off slick initial splits of 5.42 and 13.81.
After the race owner Darrin Ferguson said: "Gatlin showed outstanding promise when he was broken in and before he raced I was offered $30,000 for him.
"He wasn't for sale but after I approached seven different leading trainers, no one was interested in taking him on, they all kept saying 'a lot of dogs break in good but then don't go on with it'.
"So I gave him to western districts trainer Darren Wort and he did a terrific job with Gatlin, giving him 16 starts for six wins and six placings.
"My son named the dog after Justin Gatlin, an American athlete who was the 2004 Olympic Games 100 metre champion and the world 100m champion in 2005 and 2017.''
Time honours on Saturday were with the Billy Dance-trained Ibrox Wildfire, who led all the way to take out a 520m fourth and fifth grade in a flying 29.55.
Dance has always had a high opinion of Ibrox Wildfire but was becoming frustrated at her failure to fulfil her true ability after she finished second at each of her first six WP appearances.
Ibrox Wildfire nailed the start from box one on Saturday and posted fast early splits of 5.40 and 13.80 before running home in 11.67 to win by five lengths.
"She finished second at WP last Wednesday but the run certainly did her no harm at all because on Thursday morning Ibrox Wildfire was performing pirouettes around the yard at home,'' Dance said.
"She looked ready to race again that night and I have always been confident that on a good track she was capable of clocking 29.60 at WP.
"My only concern tonight was that she wanted to move wide on the first turn so I still have not been able to get that trait out of her.''
