Opinion: Winners And Losers After Easter Egg Box Draws

Who are the biggest winners and losers from each semi-final of the Wheeler Kennels Golden Easter Egg following the box draws on Tuesday?

The team will be doing cartwheels this morning after drawing wide with the Bulli Gold Cup champion. At 39kg, he’s more thoroughbred than greyhound but his sheer size typically means he needs a bit of room to really wind up and I think he wants to be outside other dogs. He gets a wide draw in one of the weaker semi-finals but more importantly, the map could work out perfectly for him. Off The Chart and Secret Bandit ran 5.40 and 5.42 first sections in the heats so they should be off and gone, while Zig Zag Man is wedged between them and has no early pace at all. There’s a chance Gold Force could find his way onto the back of those leaders as they burn through the first bend and if he does, look out.

This bloke needs to lead to win but can he outpace the Lord trio of Classy Bandit, She’s Fearless and Secret Bandit? Off The Chart is a proven speedster and we saw that on show in the heats when he ran a 5.40 first section and 29.48 overall. Classy Bandit ran 5.37 over the first section (although that first split is an outlier compared to her average time of 5.53) and I thought her overall run was one of the best of the night behind Paw Oswald. She’s Fearless went 5.46 early in her heat and 5.40 in a win back on March 14. And Secret Bandit might be the best beginner of the three and has produced back-to-back 5.42 efforts. I just think he might be the meat in the Lord kennel sandwich through the first bend and if that’s the case, it’s curtains. I was wrong about him last week though.

She was really good in the heats behind Taormina and it was set up by a 5.49 run to the first mark. The overall time of 29.66 was decent enough for a first look at Wentworth Park and now she draws the red where she’s had four wins and two minors from six starts. This field is chock-a-block with early speed and I think Cleo’s Star (who has run 5.03 at The Meadows early) has the wheels to nose them out through the first bend. Outside of Back Tomorrow (5.45 average first section at Wenty Park), less than a length separates the average time it takes this field to get to the post so drawing the rail is such an advantage. Cleo’s Star beat Dashing Slay in the SA Oaks late last year and is a greyhound on the rise.

His 29.25 BON effort in the heats was superb…but how on earth does he get across this field from Box 7? He ran a 5.49 first section in the heats but Texas Bandit (5.43), Canya Handle It (5.48) and Black Myth Wave and Tenacious Talker (both run 5.40 or quicker already this year) are drawn inside him. To make matters worse, Back Tomorrow is lightning early and will be coming across from Box 8. Tom Dailly said after the heat win he wanted his charge drawn towards the middle of the track but he’s going to have to be special to win a race like this from a pretty sticky draw.

Was a little unlucky in the heats I thought. She botched the jump (coincidentally like several fancies out of Box 2) but still mustered her way into the race on the back of Secret Bandit and Ascend Fern. After railing through the catching pen well, she ran up behind the leaders on the back straight before trying to sneak her way underneath them. She got squeezed out of things at the wrong time by Secret Bandit and despite losing all momentum, she still hit the line hard behind eventual winner, Gold Force. Feel likes she's better boxed up the track a little so don't mind Box 3 this week and Taw Galaxy (Box 4) could also run good cover for her from the outside brigade. She's the fastest bitch in Wentworth Park history for a reason.

The second fastest qualifier from heat night (29.31) is up against it to qualify for the next phase of the Egg. Mark Delbridge said immediately post-race Paw Oswald needed to draw 1, 2 or 3 to be a serious chance of advancing, but instead he gets the pink with a host of good dogs underneath him. Consigliere (Box 7) for a start will be mighty hard to get across if he jumps like he did in the New Sensatin series, and Ascend Fern was one of the surprise packets of the heats after a quick 5.45 first split. All hope is not lost though considering his overall record isn’t too bad from out wide (9: 4-3-0) and the last time he jumped from Box 8, he went within 0.13 of a length of qualifying for the Million Dollar Chase final at this very track.

Completely missed up the start in the heats when he jumped almost at right handles up the track but still had the class to prevail in 29.46. If he wants to do that again, Box 6 should certainly be a bit more forgiving but that was unusual so I’m anticipating a straighter run to the first bend. If he doesn’t go past Taormina (Box 4), he should also get a chance to latch onto the back of her as the other main speed influence in the race. ‘Jack’ is still yet to miss the quinella at Wentworth Park (6: 4-2-0) and would need something to go drastically wrong not to keep that streak rolling and advance to the Easter Egg final.

LOSER

The reigning Temora Cup champion was stone motherless last midway through his heat before really knuckling down late just to make the semi-finals. That was his first run at Wenty Park since February 7 so he should improve but now he's drawn Box 7 outside Cumbria Jack who I don't think he can lead and I also don't think he can run down. Andy Lord said of his eight semi-finalists, He's A Pearl, was the dog to follow - but that was before he was drawn outside the former track record holder. Could be carted perfectly into the contest?