And this shapes as the story of Friday night’s group 2 Energis Ballarat Cup, 450m, with four female trainers dominant with five runners.

This honour goes to Brooke Ennis, Samantha Ferguson, Ashlee Terry and Andrea Dailly.

Ennis is the only trainer with two representatives in the $110,000 feature.

She has qualified Judicial Man and Zinzan Brooke from the same litter for the final.

Ferguson has her first Ballarat Cup runner in Tiggerlong Cruz and Terry trains American Monster, which is aiming to claim a country cup after a close second in the Shepparton Cup in September.

The prominent Dailly qualified Diego Bale, which is also competing in his first country cup in his 73rd start.

“Greyhound racing is now a very equal sport which is why I love training greyhounds,” Ennis said.

Ferguson has been training greyhounds for just 17 months and was surprised at the support she received from other trainers as she was starting out.

“There is no stigma attached to being a female in this sport, we all work hard and I think because everyone does, no one seems to question it,” she said.

Terry said it was exciting to have a large female presence in greyhound racing, especially in big races like the Ballarat Cup.

All four are looking to follow in the footsteps of Anakie trainer Angela Langton.

She took out the Ballarat Cup with Shared Equity last year.

Admission to the meeting is free, with entertainment including live music by an INXS tribute band.

Gates open at 6pm with the first of 12 races at 7.08pm. The cup will be run at 9.28pm, with a sports club challenge at 10.08pm

There will also be dogs from the Greyhound Adoption Program on track to meet patrons and promote the program. Race caller James Van de Maat is running a punters’ club.