Tweed Heads-based John Dart trained the 2007 and 2015 Queensland Cup winners and believes his bitch Wendy Rocks gives him a great chance of cementing the hat-trick this year.
Wendy Rocks will exit box seven in heat five of the 710m Albion Park race on Thursday night and Dart is delighted to see her drawn wide.
"She likes to run three or four off the fence so box seven is great for her,'' Dart said.
"This race was formerly known as the Albion Park Gold Cup and it's been a good event for me.
"I won it with Miss Grub in 2007 and with Dzeko in 2015 and have run heaps of placings in it, and I rate Wendy Rocks in the class of the best of them.
"Miss Grub remains the best stayer I've trained although Mrs Thursday, who broke down and was retired in 2013 after winning five races was the fastest.
"She was going to be a superstar while Piping Hot was another good stayer I've trained but for six months I've been saying Wendy Rocks was going to be a top notcher and I'm confident she is getting there.
"When she won over 710m at Albion Park last week she clocked 41.63, not far off the 41.20 track record Tornado Tears posted in June, 2018.
"But in her Queensland Cup heat she will need to do every thing right as Robert Britton's stayer First Picked is going to be awfully hard to beat.''
Wendy Rocks winning on 22.6.23 | Photo: Michael McInally Box 1 Photography
It's high praise for Dart to be comparing rookie stayer Wendy Rocks with Miss Grub, as that greyhound, whose last-to-first style of racing captured the imagination of racegoers, not only won the group 1 Queensland (then Albion Park) Gold Cup but also took out the group 2 Maidment Memorial, Zoom Top and McKenna Memorial along with the group 3 West End Distance Championship.
The Queensland Cup final, to be held on July 7 is worth $150,000 to the winner and Victoria's master trainer of stayers Robert Britton has First Picked in box one in heat five while his son Tim has drawn that box with his stayers Play Nice in heat three and with Wheel And Go in heat four.
NSW western districts trainers Dennis Barnes and Jack Smith will be represented by Nangar Rocket and Palawa King in boxes four and five in heat one of the Queensland Cup while Respectability, trained near Yamba by Mick Patterson, will wear the red rug in heat two.
Golden Easter Egg winner Simply Limelight has drawn poorly in box seven in heat four of the 520m Brisbane Cup at Albion Park on Thursday night.
Trainer Peter Rodgers has related how Robert Britton, who trained the great Tornado Tears, believes Simply Limelight could become a wonderful long-distance performer.
He said: "Robert Britton came up to me the other night and asked me when I was going to send Simply Limelight down to Melbourne for him to make him into a great stayer.
"I replied that its because Simply Limelight has won 19 races and earned $461,000 racing up to 520m.''
Simply Limelight is already a G1 winner
The great She's A Pearl's career is in wind-down mode as she steps out from box eight in Thursday night's $10,000 to the winner Sportsbet Dapto Silver Collar.
Andy Lord, trainer of the first greyhound to win the Million Dollar Chase and Golden Easter Egg double said: "The minute she comes in season She's A Pearl will be retired.
"She will be mated to Fernando Bale.
"I did the same with Coast Model, who won 28 races and earned $269,000 as when she came in season she was immediately served by Bernardo and six weeks ago she whelped her first litter.''
