Tom Dailly has nominated Ollie Bale as the pick of his kennel’s remarkable seven qualifiers for Saturday night’s four semi-finals of the Group 1 Macro Meats Golden Easter Egg at Wentworth Park.
Twin brothers Tom and George have Ollie Bale, Jordan Allen and Fort Allen in the first semi-final, Musquin Bale in the third semi, and Easton Bale, Hawk Alone and Dyna Beth in the fourth semi-final.
George Dailly brought a large team of 11 greyhounds to Wentworth Park for last Saturday night’s Heats but it will be brother Tom’s turn to make the long trip this week.
"Ollie Bale would be our best chance because if he gets on the bunny he is a very strong dog," Tom said.
"He can always run 29.80 around The Meadows so he should be hard to beat.
"But I also like the wide draw for Hawk Alone because he tends to use a bit of the track.
"I thought his third placing in his Heat was a good effort because everywhere he went he got smashed."
Ollie Bale’s clash with fastest Heat winner, the Darren McDonald-trained but NSW-owned Keybow will be among the highlights of the meeting.
And Sydney’s Pride Of Mykonos, box six, is a foolproof beginner capable of causing an upset in the same event.
After the dog led before being run down by Dyna Nalin in last week’s Heats, trainer Fay Wotton said: "In his past four solo trials at Wentworth Park Pride Of Mykonos has clocked between 29.60 and 29.81 so he can run time."
Second fastest Heat winner Buckle Up Wes, who has box four in the third Golden Easter Egg semi final remains Tasmania’s best chance of landing its first Golden Easter Egg but Varcoe could easily put two greyhounds from the Apple Isle into next week’s final.
Varcoe trialled a slick 29.92 at his first look at Wentworth Park and then recorded a near record 24.98 in a 450m hitout at Maitland last month.
The dog was beaten into third place in his Golden Easter Egg Heat but his run was good as he bungled the start completely.
Owner Chris Nutt believes Varcoe is nicely drawn in box seven in Saturday’s second Golden Easter Egg semi final and is hoping the dog can come out better than he did last week.
"Unfortunately Varcoe has a tendency to miss the kick but he can jump a bit faster than last week.
"He will run straight to the first turn and as there doesn’t appear to be a lot of early speed in his race he has a good chance."
Varcoe is trained by Debbie Cannan who handles Buckle Up Wes on behalf of Tasmania’s leading trainer Ted Medhurst when that dog races in Sydney.
"Buckle Up Wes has always been a really good greyhound but he is racing with so much confidence at the moment," Nutt said.
Despite being recognised as the home of stayers Victoria has supplied just three of the past 15 winners of the Group 1 AAA Radiator Specialists Association Cup.
But that dearth of wins seems likely to be bolstered this year with greyhounds from south of the border dominating Saturday night’s Heats of the 720m event.
In Heat one Victoria’s Xylia Allen, fresh from a record breaking win over 680m at Geelong last Friday, is expected to lead throughout at her Wentworth Park 720m debut.
After winning last year’s 520m Peter Mosman Classic final at Wentworth Park, Xylia Allen should lead her rivals a merry dance from the rails draw.
Fellow Victorian Dyna Willow, who broke the mighty Miata’s track record in the 720m Betfair Cup final at Wentworth Park a fortnight ago, will be favoured to take her 720m record to six wins from seven starts despite drawing box five in Heat two.
Heat three is more open but Xylia Allen’s kennelmate Rocky Bale could spearhead a Victorian trifecta ahead of Dyna Kayla and Hailstorm Billy.
My best bet on Saturday is the ideally boxed Ritza Raider in Heat four of The Ultra Sense.
Mark Gatt’s dog speared off at the first turn when fourth from box one in a Golden Easter Egg Heat last week and will relish the drop in class and the shift to box seven in Saturday’s fourth and fifth grade event.
Best Bet: Ritza Raider (Race 11)
Best Value: Varcoe (Race 6)
Quaddie: Race 5 – 7, 6, 3
Race 6 – 7, 3, 6
Race 7 – 1, 4, 7
Race 8 – 7, 1
$20 for 37.03%
