The Wanganui Greyhound Racing Club kicks off the 2021/2022 season tonight with a 10-race card

The 2021/2022 greyhound racing season kicks off in exciting fashion at Hatrick Raceway tonight.

The first Hatrick Friday evening meeting for the 2021/22 racing season sees a 10-race card to be contested.

It will be more of the same for the new season with the powerful Lisa Cole kennels again looming as the dominant force within the region.

Cole trained 854 winners during the just-completed season, down on the record-setting 925 winners prepared in the 2019/20 season.

However, the kennel shattered the stakes earning seasonal record. In total, 202 different greyhounds earned a staggering $2,651,129 in stakes. And that total is $437,892 more than Cole's previous season's record tally.

Put into context, the Cole figures put them on top of the Australasia table for winners and second behind the potent Melbourne-based Andrea Dailly kennels in stake earnings, a remarkable achievement considering the huge race stakes available across the ditch.

On the greyhound front Cole mentored a number of outstanding canine athletes. The talented Federal Morgan finished the season as the highest individual stake earner, securing $114,270 for his Australian owner Scott Eaton.

He was the winner of two Group 1 races, plus a Group 2 victory. Federal Morgan also smashed the long-standing Manawatu Raceway 457m track record, lowering it to 25.25s. He obviously looms as a serious contender for the 2020/21 NZ Greyhound of the Year title.

The Cole kennels' iron dog Trojan Hoarse also enjoyed another outstanding season. He annexed a pair of Group 1 titles, while winning the most races by an individual chaser with his 24 race victories.

He also won the points-based NZ Sprinter of the Year award, plus the Craig Rendle-owned chasing phenomenon landed the NZ Bred Greyhound of the Year title. Trojan Hoarse is also a contender for the national award for a remarkable third consecutive season.

Anyway, back to this evening's racing where the Cole trained "roundabout" of recent Friday open class 520m race winners continued last week.

Freedom League was the latest to taste success when she took out the event in a smart 29.85s. She led all the way after jumping smartly from trap eight. She holds repeat claims, although she will race from the trickier four-trap, with the other worry being a noted railing chaser drawn on her immediate outside.

Yep, as usual the consistent Jilliby Litsa is again a realistic winning prospect after finishing as the runner-up for third consecutive Friday. This time her margin was 1.25 lengths behind and she receives the opportunity of going one better from trap eight.

Others to consider are kennelmates Big Time Atomic (one) and Big Time Harley (six), while looking to deny Cole a podium clean sweep will be Dapper Rapper. Local conditioner Brian Marsh produced him to easily win his last Friday C4 520m assignment in a handy 29.96s.