Golden Easter Egg-winning trainer Bobby Douglas returns to Temora for the first time in 50 years this afternoon when his mighty bitch Baby Jaycee contests heat two of a regional Million Dollar Chase.
Baby Jaycee, who has won 28 of 49 races, has box seven in her 457m heat where she opposes the Andy Lord-trained Mr. Yellowstone, a winner of seven from nine starts, in box eight.
The Victoria-based Douglas, who won the Golden Easter Egg at Wentworth Park with Carlisle Jack in 2002, said: "I last raced at Temora half a century ago when it was considered a replica of Harold Park.
Baby Jaycee
"Apart from the surface I don't suppose much has changed and I think Baby Jaycee will handle it all right.
"She has not trialled on the track so she is likely to either come out running or miss the jump completely.
"I'm not too worried about her not having seen the track because she beat a smart field without a look at the course when she won at Warragul.''
Sydney trainer Andy Lord is upbeat about Mr. Yellowstone's chances, pointing out: "He loves Temora, he won his first two races there.
"Baby Jaycee is a very good bitch but Mr. Yellowstone doesn't know that does he?"
Mr. Yellowstone
Lord is the new trainer of boom former western districts sprinter Nangar Larry who will contest the first heat of this afternoon's regional Million Dollar Chase.
Formerly with his owner Dennis Barnes, Nangar Larry, a winner of eight from 15 races, was sold and joined Lord's kennels just under a fortnight ago.
"I would have liked to have had a bit more time with him but Million Dollar Chases don't come along too often so I had to rush Nangar Larry into it,'' Lord said.
Nangar Larry's rivals include the Bobby Douglas-trained Call Me Marley, who has won 13 races.
Douglas said: "Call Me Marley is a fast dog but can be hit or miss at box rise.''
Verstappen joined the ranks of greyhound racing's super mums when she won at Ladbrokes Gardens 12 months ago after whelping a litter of pups to Fernando Bale in November 2021.
Those pups are now racing and are burning up the tracks.
The Brett May-trained Ezra Man led all the way for a three-length win at his Wentworth Park debut on Saturday night, clocking second quickest figures of the meeting with a 29.90 520m performance.
That success took Ezra Man's tally to six wins from seven starts.
The Fernando Bale-Verstappen litter also produced two winners at Ladbrokes Gardens on Saturday, with Max Stappen and Pepper Nando taking out 400m events.
And last Tuesday another sibling, Stappen On Tap, had won over 336m at Muswellbrook.
Verstappen's owner Richard Stock also has a big opinion of Tap The Keg, another from the litter, who has won three from five races but suffered a setback and has not raced since July.
Stock, whose work commitments restrict the number of dogs he can train himself, prepares Tap The Keg and said: "He is as quick as Ezra Man and we haven't seen the best of him yet.''
With Wentworth Park switching from Wednesday to Friday nights later next month, the NSW GBOTA is looking at several initiatives to ensure quality and quantity of nominations.
Interim chief executive officer Daniel Weizman said: "On Friday nights travel money paid out to trainers will jump from $60 to $100 per dog and a free meal will be available to all trainers in the Ladbrokes Sports Bar.
"We are also progressing well in our plan to install a middle-distance start at Wentworth Park.
"There is a tree where the new starting boxes will be located on a shute near the end of the back straight, and arborists have examined the situation while surveyors have also inspected the area with the signs being positive.''
