No, .05 outside the record. Interestingly ZZ's run home time was bettered in a reserves trial prior to the 1st race. The creator of this thread may wish to elaborate for those that haven't seen her two wins at Dapto. NSW Contenders Primed For Nationals Success Written by: Jeff Collerson 11/08/13 Wentworth Park The near track record wins by Zulu Zeus and Smart Valentino in the NSW finals of the National Sprint and Distance Championships at Wentworth Park on Saturday night indicate they will do NSW proud in the Group 1 National Championships at The Meadows on 24 August. NSW has not won since Smooth Fancy and Blue Lorian won the 2010 Sprint and Distance finals at South Australias Angle Park and before Saturday night the consensus was that the much-vaunted Victorians would take out the big ones, especially given the massive home track advantage. But Zulu Zeus all the way sprint win in 29.32 was a mere 0.05 wide of Punch One Outs time standard set on 13 March, while Smart Valentinos 720m success in 41.96 was only 0.15 slower than Miatas record run in March 2012. Zulu Zeus trainer Frank Hurst has no worries about his dog being able to zoom around The Meadows. "If he can handle Wenty hell handle The Meadows just as well." But for Smart Valentinos trainer Mark Swift the notion of heading to Melbourne to represent NSW was a somewhat daunting prospect. "This is all new to me, Mark said after Smart Valentino broke 42 seconds, just as he did when he was trialled over 720m at Wentworth Park before he made his long distance debut at the track. "Ive got to find somewhere to stay down there but Ellen Dwyer, from the GBOTA, said she knows some people and is going to try and help me out," Mark said. Apart from Zulu Zeus and Smart Valentino the highlight of Saturday nights Wentworth Park card was provided by a greyhound which did not even race at the meeting. The unbeaten Paul Wheeler-owned, Chris Nutt-trained Wilma Bale, first reserve in race one, led throughout in a 520m stewards trial, posting splits of 5.59 and 14.06 on the way to a brilliant 29.74 overall time in what was her first look at Wentworth Park. But it was Wilma Bales run home figures which had the experts gobsmacked. She rocketed to the finish line in 15.68, which was an astonishing 0.02 faster than Zulu Zeus recorded in the National Sprint. In what is probably the under-statement of the year, Shaun Evans, who trains alongside Nutt at Paul Wheelers former The Oaks complex, said: "I think we are going to have some fun with this bitch." "Even now we cant wait to step her up in distance."
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