A tonsillectomy performed six weeks ago contrinubted to the regally bred Foxy Barbella scoring her first Wentworth Park win on Saturday night.
A litter sister to champion stayer Magpie Hector and crack Victorian speedster Slick Splits, Foxy Barbella had been runner-up in each of two previous WP appearances before leading throughout in 29.82 on Saturday.
After the race her Wallerawang owner-trainer Ross Davidson, who bred the outstanding Feral Franky-Foxy Bourbski litter, said: "When Foxy Barbella led and got run down to finish second in ordinary time at her first Wenty start on April 18 I knew something had to be wrong.
"After the race I found her gasping for breath so following a visit to the veterinary surgeon it was decided to remove her tonsils.
"That seems to have made all the difference because her luckless second at WP on May 23 was a vast improvement and now she has got her first Wenty win.
"Foxy Barbella won four races for me when trained by Tom Dailly in Melbourne, but Tom was disappointed with that result.
"He explained that the times Foxy Barbella was capable of trialling on his private track suggested she should be winning more races so she was returned to my kennels.
"I think she has thrived through being in a small kennel as I only have two greyhounds in training.''
It's not often a fifth grade winner shares fastest time of the night at WP but the Allen Williams-trained Fear To Excel achieved that goal with her all-the-way 29.58 win on Saturday.
Before the race Williams said: "Fear To Excel will go close to winning but she needs to nail the start.''
Williams' bitch did exactly that, jumping brilliantly and posting a fast second split of 13.79 en route to her four lengths win.
The marvellous Sammy Ethan shared Fear To Excel's time standard, leading throughout to record a remarkable 25th win at his 90th WP appearance in Saturday's 520m fourth and fifth grade.
Before the race trainer Mark Gatt declared he could not separate Sammy Ethan (box one) and kennelmate Wyndra All Heart (box two), declaring them both well drawn.
Gatt was on the mark as Sammy Ethan was chased all the way by Wyndra All Heart, and just hung on to score by a half-length.
President Rolex only turned two last month but at WP on Saturday he registered his 12th win in 33 starts.
President Rolex was a distant second most of the way but stormed home to beat tearaway pacemaker My Cupcake by just over a length in 29.60.
Trainer Jason Mackay said: "President Rolex's run was even better than it looked because his backside got bumped by another dog on the first bend and he lost some ground.
"He has a bit of the future because he is improving all the time.''
Tarawi Banjo and Tarawi Brumby, sons of litter sisters Hello Dream and Hello Mavis, took out 520m fifth grades on Saturday in 29.93 and 29.75 respectively.
Tarawi Banjo is a new addition to the Shannon Boyd kennels while Tarawi Brumby scored his third WP win for trainer Alan Proctor.
After the race Proctor said: "I gave Tarawi Brumby a good chance tonight because he had only four opponents and I knew that small field would suit him.
"He clocked his personal best Wenty time of 29.75 tonight but I actually thought he might have got down to 29.60 when he secured a fairly clear run.''
Winsome Josie raced as if she had a jockey on her back to win a 520m fifth grade in 29.72 on Saturday.
After being last to leave the boxes, Winsome Josie, who had drawn seven, stayed wide in the early stages, neatly avoiding jostling among the inside runners.
But she cleverly switched to the rails as she approached the home turn, seeming to notice a rival moving away from the inside fence.
After hitting the front on the home bend Winsome Josie held off Glitzy Ethics to score by three-quarters of a length in 29.72.
Foreign Capital notched his 11th WP win in Saturday's top grade race, running down pacemaker Magic Bandit and then holding off Prim And Pretty to win by a head in 29.72.
Jodie Lord did not train a winner on Saturday, a rare occurrence at WP, but she did have success as an owner when Bandit Alex, trained by Chris O'Brien, won a 520m fifth grade in 29.71
