Magpie Hector pulled up well after taking out last week's group one Zoom Top over 730m at The Meadows and will now attempt a rare double by winning Saturday night's group one Fanta Bale over the same course.
Trainer Jack Smith won the 2024 Fanta Bale final with his mighty stayer Palawa King, and is thrilled at the prospect of getting another crack at the big race with his latest star Magpie Hector.
"Hector's Zoom Top win was very good because he came out near last, then circled his rivals for the first 300m before running down Fade To Black at the top of the straight,'' Smith said.
"This was the first group one win for Magpie Hector's syndicate of seven owners and Andrew Walker, who manages the syndicate, was trackside which made it all the more enjoyable.''
Magpie Hector after the Zoom Top | Photo: The Meadows Dogs Facebook
Winning both the Zoom Top and the Fanta Bale has been a difficult task in recent years, with Unreal Speed, last year's Fanta Bale winner, finishing third to Lanfranco in the Zoom Top.
In 2024 the great Valpolicella, owned by Sydney accountant Sandro Bechini and trained in Queensland by Tony Zammit, won the Zoom Top while Palawa King landed the Fanta Bale for Jack Smith.
A year earlier Stagger Out Lee won the Zoom Top but could manage only third placing to Ariarne Bale in the Fanta Bale, while in 2021 Mepunga Ruby was fifth to Gypsy Wyong in the Zoon Top before being successful in the Fanta Bale.
Magpie Hector winning the Zoom Top | Photo: The Meadows Dogs Facebook
Gets Late Early, who had to be scratched from Thursday's Wentworth Park meeting after coming in season, is already off to the breeding barn.
Owners Peter McDermott and Denis Donoghue have elected to mate their outstanding daughter of former champion Poco Dorado to Simply Limelight, the 2023 Golden Easter Egg winner.
Gets Late Early goes to stud after compiling a record of 38 wins and 44 placings from 122 starts and $416,500, with the 2025 Brother Fox at Dubbo among her major victories.
Gets Late Early
It's difficult to think of a more versatile greyhound in recent years than Gets Late Early, who clocked near record times of 324m on the Richmond straight, and 21.90 over 388m at Gosford along with 29.19 over 515m and 34.35 over 603m there, plus 29.45 for 520m at Wentworth Park and 34.72 for the Dubbo 605m journey.
Simply Limelight's owner and former trainer Peter Rodgers said: "When I first retired him I did so simply to mate a couple of my own bitches to him.
"But then Marty Hallinan and Brendan Wheeler began using him for their brood bitches and he has really taken off.
"Brendan Wheeler has sent three bitches to him and got 25 pups so he is happy.
"And the dog's first litter has been winning plenty of races, while Minnie Finn, Gets Late Early's trainer, is training some Simply Limelight pups and says they are flying.''
