Many keen judges were surprised to see Where’s Keroma in Saturday night’s Richmond Derby heats but the Anthony Azzopardi-trained greyhound is not there to "make up the numbers".
Where’s Keroma has box one in heat two and Anthony says his dog - a true enigma of the sport - could win without surprising.
"He could cause an upset in a Melbourne Cup final if he wanted to but I’ve given up backing him," Anthony said yesterday.
"To my knowledge only two greyhounds have ever broken 30 seconds at Richmond, one being the Wentworth Park record holder Punch One Out and the other being Where’s Keroma, who has trialled 29.93 there.
"At Wentworth Park Where’s Keroma has been jumping well but when he gets to the first turn he watches to see where his rivals are going before he decides whether to rail to go around them.
"Sometimes I think Where’s Keroma is too smart for his own good.
"But if he can be up there early in the derby heat his rivals will know he is there because Where’s Keroma loves Richmond and box one is fine because he will rail if there is a gap on the fence."
Anthony also has Topper Harley in box four in heat four but concedes that despite having won six of 19 starts his dog faces a tough task.
"Topper Harley hasn’t raced at Richmond but the fastest he has trialled there is 30.60 and he is in a very strong heat so might need to go a bit quicker to win," Anthony said.
In-form Fast Archer has box seven in the same heat but while the dog has been racing consistently from wide draws, trainer Clay Mullens would have liked his greyhound drawn near the rails.
"Fast Archer has had a run of wide boxes and while he has learned to handle outside draws, in a hot field like he is in on Saturday night I would have much preferred him boxed near the rails," Clay said.
Trainer Mark Gatt holds a strong hand in the Derby heats and his greyhounds seem to race better at Richmond than on any other track.
Mark has Gradence and Ritza Raider in heat one, Ritza Ryder in heat two, Boyce Road (pictured)in heat three and Red Road in heat four.
All have strong chances but Ritza Raider - probably the least boomed of Mark’s quartet - could be the surprise package.
Ritza Raider has been beaten just once in four Richmond starts and is ideally drawn in box eight.
Best Bet: Royal Runner (Race 8)
Best Value: Ritza Raider (Race 3)
Quaddie: Race 5 - 3, 1, 5, 7
Race 6 – 7, 4
Race 7 – 6, 7, 2
Race 8 – 4, 8
$20 for 41.67%
