It was back in August-September last year that Meningie owner-trainer Tim Richards had fronted up at Tara Raceway on four occasions with a greyhound called He’s On Fire.

And on all four occasions the son of On Fire and She’s A Looper had finished second in maiden 400 metre events.

Fast forward 12 months and last Saturday night He’s On Fire, currently being trained for Richards by Allan Manwaring of Nowra Hill, was contesting the Million Dollar Chase final over 520 metres at Wentworth Park in Sydney.

And as the field headed down the back, with the front-running He’s On Fire having opened up a handy break, Richards must have dared to dream that just maybe his dog was going to pick up a million dollars.

In the end he collected $45,000 when finishing in third spot, beaten 2¼ lengths in what was a terrific effort. Winner of the race was McInerney, trained at Lara by Brendan Pursell for Noel Mugavin of Warrnambool.

Closer to home, and on Thursday night, race caller Tim Edwards – after the second of the 530 metre match races at Angle Park had been run – declared that Giant’s Flash, the dog from Mount Gambier, had one paw in the Adelaide Cup final after running 30.15 seconds.

In the end he finished second overall behind Wow She’s Fast who ran a 29.86 seconds track record in her match race and advances straight to the Adelaide Cup final on October 7.

Giant’s Flash, trained at Compton by Tracie Price since January, is another terrific story given that 12 months ago he was languishing in no man’s land while serving a 90-day suspension for failing to chase at Bendigo.