With the National Sprint Championship scheduled for Sandown next Saturday night it was timely that western Sydney trainer Kerry Drynan should return to the winner's circle at Richmond on Friday night.
Kerry, who won a 320m maiden with the previously unraced To The Stars, was co-trainer with her mother Doreen Drynan of Chica Destacada, who emulated Acclaim Star (1979), Rapid Journey (1998) and In For Life (2004) as among the few NSW-trained dogs to win a National Sprint Championship final at Perth's Cannington Central.
Chica Destacada, who took out the 2014 final in Western Australia, went on to win two dozen races and $347,539 before becoming an outstanding brood bitch, producing stars like Poco Dorado, Veloce Nero and Two Times Twice.
Between 2017 and 2023 Chica Destacada's offspring won 295 races and earned over $2 million, and To The Stars is closely related to the Drynan family's greatest performer.
Chica Destacada was bred by the Drynans from a mating of Cosmic Rumble with their good race bitch Eluthra, while To The Stars, was produced by Star Is Born, a granddaughter of Eluthra.
Kerry Drynan has held a trainer's license since 2012 while Doreen, a former British Army veteran, began training greyhounds in the mid-60s.
Doreen's first top notcher was Winged Gemini, a finalist in the 1973 National Distance Championship won by He's Some Boy on the old Gabba track in Brisbane.
Kerry won the group three Magic Maiden final at Wentworth Park in 2019 with Timeless Moment, a daughter of Chica Destacada and hopes to have a starter in the Masters Meteor final at the iconic track's final meeting on October 16.
Brooklyn Brute, who has clocked 29.48 at Wentworth Park and won 12 of his 56 starts, is back in training with the Meteor as his goal.
"He has had a couple of injury problems but if he stands up I would love to have him racing at the final Wentworth Park meeting.'' Kerry Drynan said.
"It will be a sad night for a lot of people and I would love to be part of it after seeing my mum win so many races there over several decades.''
Kerry Drynan's most recent Wentworth Park winners have been litter sisters Reflections and Lady Divine, who won 19 races and nearly $150,000 between 2022 and 2024.
But mum Doreen trained Wenty heroes and NSW National Sprint Championship Winners Mister Britain and Buddy Rich, who also won the inaugural Black Top at The Gardens, along with Addis Boy and Oxley Tiger, also Wentworth Park stars.
Kerry has no illusions about To The Stars, her winner at Richmond on Friday, reaching those heights, but believes she can improve on her 18.61 figures posted in her maiden success.
"She has good early pace but missed the jump on Friday so can go quicker.'' she said.
"I bred To The Stars from a handy short course bitch called Star Is Born, who won 11 of just 37 races.''
Race seven, won by Radiant Ethics at Wentworth Park on Saturday night, was named the Zoom Top 60th Stakes, after the sensational all distance bitch of the late 1960s.
Zoom Top's 60th heavenly birthday falls on Monday, August 24 and Bill Parsons, a nephew of the champion's co-trainer Leah Watt, was at Wentworth Park to present the winner's cheque to the connections of Radiant Ethics.
Wentworth Park has been home to a succession of champions like Brett Lee, Tenthill Doll, Rapid Journey, Fernando Bale, She's A Pearl, Cumbria Jack, Power And Glory and currently Jungle Johnny, but Zoom Top's incredible career surpasses them all.
When she retired after being crowned NSW Greyhound of the Year in 1968 and 1969, she had won 50 per cent of her 136 starts, scoring 68 wins, 25 seconds and 14 thirds.
The Hec and Leah Watt-trained "Fawn Flash" won on 24 of the 27 tracks on which she raced, breaking or equaling 15 track records at 12 different venues in the process.
Racing in an era before group class racing was introduced, Zoom Top tackled 21 major events, qualifying for 17 finals and winning 11, over distances ranging from 292m to 795m. She won over 23 different distances.
