Tupelo was named in honour of Elvis Presley and he may well become a greyhound worthy of the nickname 'The King' if early signs are anything to go by.
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Tupelo backed up a promising second on debut with a strong victory at Dawson Park on Friday afternoon, much to the delight of Gilgandra trainer Merle Clarke.
The $2.90 chance took out the NJK Construction Stakes (318m) by three-quarters-of-a-length in the time of 18.71 seconds.
"He's had a win and a second in his couple of starts and we're looking to a bright futrure with him," Clarke said.
"We've had him since he was welped so we've had him a long time waiting for a win like today."
Tupelo showed plenty of pace when running second behind Eureka Boy on debut at Coonabarabran on March 16 and in his second start he got away cleanly.
Tupelo set the pace early on in Friday's race, getting out best and sitting in front ahead of Bella Beach ($27).
Winlock Midge ($2.80 favourite) and Fifield Bitter ($6.50) surged from deep but Clarke's dog had already got out to a handy lead.
Fifield Bitter got to second and cut the gap on the leader but Tupelo did enough to score his first win.
"Tupelo is where Elvis Presley was born so he was named by an Elvis fan," Clarke said after the win.
"It's a bit of an unusual name but he's going well.
"I think we'll see more wins from him."
The Garry Abernathy-trained Fifield Bitter was second while Winlock Midge was third for Samantha Ashman.
Tupelo provided Clarke with her lone win for the meeting, which went ahead despite a downpour late on Friday afternoon.
Cudal-based trainwr Christopher Spratt finished the meeting with a double after both Khatanga Port and Khatanga Babe saluted.
The former took out the Racing 29/3 Stakes (516m) while the latter was a dominant winner of the Dubbo RSL Stakes (400m) later in the meeting.
Jumping a hot $1.30 chance, Khatanga Babe blitzed the field on her way to scoring a seven-and-a-half-length victory at the Dubbo track.
Come On Jen ($10.50) got away best from box three but Khatanga Babe's inside draw proved key as she rattled along to take the lead early and from there she never looked back.
It was just the second start of Khatange Babe's career after she had previously run fifth on debut at Sydney's Wentworth Park on February 6.
Winlock Lisa ($7.50) pinched second from Come On Jen right on the line.
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Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
