Any doubt about Jungle Johnny being the most exciting greyhound in NSW was blown away on Saturday night at Wentworth Park when the Mark Gatt-trained dog bolted away with heat four of the Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg in a sizzling 29.52.
Coming back from winning the $100,000 Ladbrokes Country Classic over 605m at Dubbo just a week earlier, Jungle Johnny dwelt at the start but showed surprising early dash to take the lead entering the back straight and scoring by over eight lengths in a sizzling 29.52.
He showed his finishing strength by producing an 11.58 run home time.
Big Energy, a December 2020 whelping, was far and away the oldest greyhound in Saturday night's Easter Egg heats, but he raced like a two-year-old when he led throughout to win heat eight in a smart 29.62.
Formerly with Jacquie and Kel Greenough in Melbourne, Big Energy entered the kennels of Jodie Lord - who won the 2022 Golden Easter Egg with She's A Pearl - just a month ago.
The son of Aussie Infrared remains undefeated in three Wentworth Park outings.
Zipping Bailey came from last to win the 2019 Golden Easter Egg for trainer Jason Mackay, but Kisses For Gran, his dazzling 2025 heat two winner on Saturday night, jumped in front from box four and gave nothing else a chance.
Kisses For Gran wasn't headed, reeling off an initial split of 5.39 before winning by nearly three lengths from Daysea's Rory and Flying Zulu, who chased her all the way.
She carved out the 520m in 29.69, and Jason Mackay said: "Kisses For Gran has come out fast in each of her past three Wenty wins, and that's the key to winning these big races.
"Although Zipping Bailey came from last in her Easter Egg final, in most cases, you need to be in front or running second or third at the first turn if you are going to win.
"Considering Kisses For Gran was still a fifth grader less than a month ago, she has sure come through the ranks pretty quickly.''
Late Night News, early favourite for the group one Farrell's Association Cup, gave those who took the long odds-on about his chances plenty of cause for concern before winning at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
Sent out at $1.10 from his ideal box one draw, Late Night News was beaten for early pace by Double Denim before trailing outsider Mount Parnis from the catching pen until the home turn.
Late Night News finally came over the top of his rivals to win by just over a length in 43.03, a long way short of his personal best, Wentworth Park 720m time of 41.60.
But Late Night News will still go into next Saturday's heats of the Association Cup as the winner of five of his six 720m assignments at headquarters.
Trainer Caroline Hughes said: "The track was a real bog for that first race, and with no more rain and the tractor going around between races, it got faster as the night progressed.
"That race was a real gut-buster for Late Night News, so I will give him a bit of a breather this week leading up to the Association Cup heats next Saturday.''
Tommy Shelby set a race record of 29.27 when he became the first WA-trained greyhound to win the Golden Easter Egg in 2021 and Sunset Hornet, trained in Perth by David Hobby, emerged as a genuine 2025 contender on Saturday night.
Handled by Peter Davis for Hobby, Sunset Hornet clocked a mediocre first split of 5.63 when he trialled recently in a moderate 30.46 at Wentworth Park but was a brilliant all-the-way winner of the opening on Saturday night.
Exploding from box five, Sunset Hornet produced a flying first section of 5.38 and set up a massive lead on the back straight, before tiring the straight to win by a half-length from Tulsi Banner in 30.28.
Power And Glory gave last year's National Derby winner History's Coming a huge start at the half-way mark before storming home to win heat five by two lengths in 29.93.
Victorian-trained greyhounds have won six of the past 11 Golden Easter Eggs and Lakeview Emily, widely considered the best bitch in that state, made a one-act affair of heat six on Saturday night.
Just a week after winning the Group 2 Shepparton Cup final, Lakeview Emily led throughout to win on Saturday night in 29.73, holding off the strong finishing August Bob to win by three-quarters of a length.
In the following heat, another Victorian, the Brendan Wheeler-owned Paw Oswald, from the Mark Delbridge kennel, emphasised his liking for Wentworth Park by winning in 30.11.
Paw Oswald's previous Wentworth Park appearance had resulted in victory over a desperately unlucky Jungle Johnny in the group one National Derby final on January 18.
