Aunty Meeka and Spring Breezing (pictured), who were runners-up at Wentworth Park last Saturday, have great chances of giving each of their trainers their first city winner at headquarters on Saturday night.
Aunty Meeka, who has box eight in the NSW GBOTA Welcome Stakes, a 520m fifth grade, was a fast finishing second, beaten a half head, by Tiki Magic last week.
Spring Breezing ran into a budding superstar in Honk Honk but was far from disgraced when second, beaten just over three lengths by that greyhound, finishing strongly from fifth position at the first turn and third on the back straight.
On Saturday, Spring Breezing will exit box three in the Hiding Down The Order Stakes, a 520m fifth grade.
His trainer Chris Witt said: "I owned Angry Blizzard when that dog, trained by Nathan Goodwin, won the $100,000 to the winner Masters Meteor final at Wentworth Park in 2022, and two years ago, I took up training myself.
"Nathan gave me a lot of advice, and so did Greg Board, who presented me with a giveaway dog called Spring Tesla for me to begin as a trainer.
"Spring Tesla was my first Wentworth Park starter as a trainer 12 months ago, but was beaten a nose by Royal Panama.
"I went back to Greg Board and purchased Spring Breezing, who has had three wins at Nowra and three seconds at Wentworth Park for me.
"I think Spring Breezing can give me my first city winner on Saturday night as he looks to be in a suitable race and is boxed nicely in three.
"He loves the rails so that draw should suit him.''
Jonathon Crocker, from Coolamon, 40km from Wagga, only recently began training as a hobby, with the assistance of his wife Linda and three teenage daughters.
"I work for Transport for NSW so do a fair bit of travelling which means training Aunty Meeka has to be a family affair,'' Crocker said.
"I bought Aunty Meeka as a puppy for around $3500 and she broke in well when educated by Nathan Farrugia at Richmond.
"She had not seen Wentworth Park when she first raced there in March and has improved with every run on the track.
"Aunty Meeka was having her third look at Wenty when she finished fast to be beaten a half head, last Saturday, and clocked 29.82, her best time there.
"I think she is capable of going a little bit quicker on Saturday because she has box eight and she doesn't mind being boxed out wide.''
Lagoon Joey led by five lengths at the halfway mark when he finished second, posting his quickest Wentworth Park time of 29.98 on April 26, and has won each of two races this month, over 440m at Goulburn.
Although Lagoon Joey has shown good early pace for a win and two placings in four Wentworth Park appearances, trainer Ray Webster believes he is now showing more stamina.
"He had his tonsils removed around six weeks ago and since then he has been getting to the line a little more strongly,'' Webster said.
"Box five is not great but Lagoon Joey runs in a very straight line from the starting boxes to the first turn, so providing he begins as well as he can he should be prominent for a long way.
"He is no champion but is probably capable of running around 29.90 if he gets on the lure on Saturday.''
Webster is less confident about the prospects of his marvellous old stager Father Rick, who will be chasing his 15th Wentworth Park win in Saturday night's gapnsw.com.au Masters, over 520m.
"Father Rick has box one and always seems to find trouble from that draw,'' Webster said.
Father Rick has won only two of his nine outings while wearing the red rug.
Best bet on Saturday should be Zipping Chetty, who was desperately unlucky when second, from box eight, in her heat of the Ladbrokes Sports Bar bitches 520m series at Wentworth Park on July 10.
Highlight of Saturday's Wentworth Park card should be the clash of Taormina, chasing her fifth straight win at the track, and the exciting youngster Honk Honk, in the Happy Birthday Cath Stakes, a 520m top grade event.
Taormina has won 10 of her 23 Wentworth Park races, with a personal best time of 29.41, while Honk Honk has been successful in five of nine Wenty starts, but boasts a fastest time of a scorching 29.19.
Taormina though has the edge for early pace, having clocked a 5.39 first split ahead of Honk Honk's quickest at 5.43.
