A close-to-perfect box draw and outstanding Wentworth Park credentials point to Binalong Time being the best bet of the night on Saturday.
The Minnie Finn-trained daughter of former champion stayer Poco Dorado has box seven in the Barcia Blue Boy @ Stud bitches' final, where she is chasing her fourth success in six Wentworth Park appearances.
Binalong Time won her heat in 29.98, coming from third at box rise to lead at the first turn and winning by five lengths despite losing ground by running wide on the corner.
She is far better suited on Saturday because at her only race from box seven she led throughout in 29.74, posting a slick first split of 5.45 and running home in a powerful 11.69.
Fastest qualifier for Saturday's final is the Syd Swain-trained Miss Zig Zag, who had box five - her draw on Saturday - when she led all the way to win her heat in 29.73.
Miss Zig Zag
Miss Zig Zag's first split was 5.40 but on Saturday she will need to do everything right to get an interference-free run around the Tony Messina-prepared Cheeky Cheeky, drawn in one.
That greyhound recorded a blistering first section of 5.38 when she led all the way in 30.26 at Wentworth Park on November 10 before leading throughout, with a first split of 5.46, for her 30.36 heat win.
But Cheeky Cheeky is a wide runner and her early dash could prove a problem for Miss Zig Zag in the first 100m.
Good value on Saturday night is another well-boxed runner, Try Catch Up, who will wear the red rug in the Sky Sports Radio Stakes, a 520m fourth grade.
Try Catch Up has box one and boasts the remarkable record of five wins from six starts out of the inside alley.
His trainer Peter Sims also has the well-drawn Rampani, a winner of three Wentworth Park races, in box eight.
But Sims' father Ray, who assists his son with their training and educational establishment at Illabo, near Wagga, thinks Try Catch Up can win.
Try Catch Up is 5 from 6 from the inside draw.
Sims senior, 81, has spent a lifetime in the sport and did the pre-training for the great sprinter Daily Tide, winner of the 1965 group one double, the Vic Peters Classic and Paws Of Thunder (then known as NSW St Leger).
"The only time Try Catch Up has been beaten from box one was when he ran third to She's A Pearl at Wenty in July,'' he said.
"And he is going just as well now.''
Try Catch Me won from box two over 525m at Wagga on November 10 in 29.97, not far outside the track record set by Victorian dog Deliver in September, 2019.
"He is a promising young dog but will probably need the experience of the run on the track on Saturday,'' he said.
Black Chilli's last start over 520m was in a heat of the Group 1 Dapto Megastar on December 1, 2022 so he drops in class in Saturday's Ladbrokes Communities Masters Stakes, 520m.
Black Chilli resumed from nearly 11 months off with fourths over 297m at Dapto and over 280m at Wentworth Park before a strong finishing third in a 280m sprint at Wenty on November 17.
"Those short races are really not his go and this looks like a race Black Chilli can win if he gets away cleanly,'' trainer Ken Burnett said.
"I'm just a bit worried that from box two he may want to step to the right at the start.''
Black Chilli
Trainer Nathan Goodwin would have preferred Good Pub Feed from an inside box but still gives the dog a chance of breaking through for his first Wentworth Park win in Saturday night's Ladbrokes Racing Club dogs-only final, 520m.
"He is improving all the time and I think he might be ready to put it all together now that he has had the experience of three WP races,'' Goowin said.
"He is not strong at the end of 520m, he is really a 490m dog, but if Good Pub Feed can lead around the first turn and run his 30.10 up front he can get home.''
