Sky's The Limit For Exciting Wagga Pup

EXCITING pup Got To Casino continued the unblemished start to his career with a resounding Goulburn victory on Friday afternoon.

Making it three wins from as many appearances, the son of Sh Avatar has been the subject of some sizable offers recently and on the back of Friday's stunning win, trainer Peter Dooner can expect the phone calls to only escalate in coming days.

Showing blinding mid race speed, Got To Casino recorded a best of day 24.93 to annex his heat of the Ladbrokes Super Series (440m), defeating more fancied rival Spring Barty by 3 ¼ lengths.

And while the time would only appear tidy on face value, the track was playing a good half-a-second slow, suggesting the performance was in the realms of a 24.50 run.

"I reckon he might have some ability the dog," said a tongue in cheek Dooner.

"And he's still only learning as you can see with his box habits. He's got a long way to go but he showed what he's capable of doing at Wagga then Shepparton and now Goulburn."

It was a comprehensive win that even caught Dooner by surprise.

"Box eight was a real plus for him – he can miss it away so a middle draw in the final won't be any help at all,” Dooner offered.

“I'd love the eight again for the final."

In an ironic turn of events, Friday's barnstorming heat victory will see Got To Casino start favourite for next week's $7,500 to-the-winner Ladbrokes sponsored Super Series Final.

But had it not been for the Victoria-NSW border closure earlier this week, the prodigious talent would have been plying his trade at Shepparton on Thursday instead.

"When I heard the borders were closing I called GRV and pulled them out of Shepparton and nominated for Goulburn instead," Dooner said.

"I wasn't at Goulburn as I have my business here in Wagga so my kennel-hand Michael took the dogs. And Got A Cookie is in at Wagga tonight as well."

Wagga based Peter Dooner has been racing greyhounds for the best part of 15 years with considerable success carrying the ‘Gotta" prefix.

But with Got To Casino and other greyhounds more recently, the Wagga mentor has been forced to change tack.

"Greyhounds Australasia knocked it (Gotta) on the head for some reason," Dooner said.

"So I've had to change the way I name them from Gotta to Got To. It's disappointing as I've had a lot of success with Gotta; hopefully we can get it fixed up."

The remaining two Super Series heats on Friday were taken out by Nangar Kane in 25.42 and Hooper in 25.52, indicating the clear time advantage Got To Casino takes into next week's final.

Earlier on Friday's program, Lesley Hannaford's hugely exciting sprinter Just Sirius took out the fast class race of the day in 24.96, another indication of the slowish nature of the track.

Now a winner at eight of his 11 starts, the son of Fernando Bale has previously recorded a blinding 24.56 at the Goulburn circuit where he's recorded each of his eight successes.