"He is already as good as Let's Be Frank and might be even better,'' exclaimed trainer Syd Swain after his dog Zig Zag Man notched his third successive 622m win in fast time at Richmond on Friday night.
West Rock Casey, who is no slouch and boasts a personal best 29.68 for 520m at Wentworth Park, made the pace and Zig Zag Man was giving him 10 lengths' start in the middle stages.
But Swain's dog roared home to beat West Rock Casey by a length in a slick 35.44, after clocking 35.42 and 35.35 in his two previous Richmond 622m tests.
"Let's Be Frank broke the great Queensland stayer Trojan Tears' 12-year-old long distance record at Wentworth Park, and Zig Zag Man is up there alongside him,'' Syd Swain declared.
"His ultimate goal is the 710m Queensland Cup series at The Q Parklands track, with heats on June 26 and the $150,000 final on July 5.
"Zig Zag Man has trialled over 520m there and when he did leading Queensland trainer Tom Tzouvelis told me my dog had posted the fastest run home time he had seen there.
"I've always been confident Zig Zag Man would stay because after he finishes a 520m race at Wenty, where he has clocked 29.37, he comes into the pen barking.
"And when I've sent him in three or four gallops for up to 1000 metres on my straight track, he doesn't even look for a drink of water when he has finished.''
Zig Zag Man
Before Donna Maree's race at Wentworth Park on Thursday, one wag quipped to trainer Ken Gorry "lean over the fence on the home turn and you will be able to give her a pat as she goes past.''
The joker wasn't far off the mark as Donna Maree must surely be the widest runner in training, and despite getting closer to the outside than inside rail, she was able to come away and win her 520m fifth grade by a length.
Trainer Ken Gorry said: "She can only get better because while she will always be a very wide runner, she is racing with more confidence now.
"Reason for that is, three months ago she was attacked by a neighbour's pit bull and needed some stitching up.
"Not surprisingly, that episode affected her mentally but she is over it now, and I might give her a run at Bulli, because she has trialled well on the big track there.''
Gorry, 79, has trained greyhounds for 50 years, with his best being the former straight track champion Incahoots.
In August last year Donna Maree gave Gorry his first Wentworth Park winner when she ran down Mark Gatt's Go Lani, who has now won a dozen races at the track, to win in a slick 29.78.
"Incahoots won the Peter Warren Trophy at Appin and the Fosters Derby at Wyong so I used to race a lot up the straight,'' Gorry pointed out.
"But I also liked taking my dogs to tracks like Moss Vale and Wollongong, now sadly long gone.
"The first greyhound I trained, Power Clogs, had been a birthday present to my wife Noelene.
"I have not been without a dog or two since but until I retired from operating a glass recycling business, I was just a hobby trainer.''
