WHEN the fields for Thursday's meetings were released Jodie and Andy Lord had trained 165 winners in 2022 but even that success pales in comparison with their achievement of having six of the eight finalists in Thursday night's Dapto Middle Distance Championship.
In the $25,000 to the winner 600m final, Jodie will be represented by Bandit Jane (box one), Cawbourne Magic (two), Coast Model (five), Good Odds Emma (six) and Punter's Bandit (seven).
Her husband Andy puts the polish on Grim Madara, who has drawn box four.
Remarkably the only non-Lord-trained qualifiers are Ray Webster's Father Rick, who has box three, and the Jason Magri-trained Zipping Novak, who will exit box eight.
In last Thursday night's heats Bandit Jane came from box three and led throughout to win by four lengths from Zipping Novak in 33.99, while Cawbourne Magic drew box eight and finished fast from midfield to clock 34.16 in a clear cut victory over Grim Madara.
Bandit Jane became the first greyhound to break the 34sec barrier at Dapto with her figures smashing the course record set of 34.08 set by Opal Rocks, who was also trained by Jodie Lord, in May, 2021.
Bandit Jane's rails draw is likely to make her a hot favourite for the Championship, but she has a poor record from box one.
Bandit Jane is yet to win while wearing the red rug, with her six races resulting in just three minor placings.
"Yeah, we would have preferred to see her drawn wide,'' Jodie Lord said.
"Cawbourne Magic is drawn nicely and is a young dog on the way up and we expect him to really shine in the weeks to come.''
FATHER Rick just scraped into Thursday's Dapto Middle Distance Championship final by finishing fourth in Cawbourne Magic's heat but trainer Ray Webster gives his dog a good chance of stopping the Lord juggernaut.
"Father Rick has box three and he has won two of his three races from that draw,'' Webster said.
"He even won the 350m Goulburn Fireball from box three so he is definitely in with a chance.
"But he has to get out of the boxes fast because if he does I think he has a great hope of being the early leader.
"His draw looks good because Cawbourne Magic, who has box two, does not have great early pace.
"Father Rick has won over the Dapto 600m trip in 34.13 and apart from Bandit Jane, none of his rivals in the Championship final has gone quicker.''
