The connections of Whittaker remain upbeat about his chances in Saturday night’s Group 1 Ladbrokes Paws Of Thunder at Wentworth Park on Saturday night despite drawing the dreaded “lemon” (box five).
Whittaker (pictured) qualified for the $100,00-to-the-winner feature race with a brilliant victory in his heat. In that race, Whittaker stalked the leaders before showing great balance to switch off the heels of Dyna Nico in the home straight and run away for a win in 30.17.
While Whittaker will face his biggest test in Saturday’s Paws Of Thunder, it appeared to become all that more difficult when the son of Milldean Panther was assigned box five for the final. But Bruce Fletcher, husband of trainer Julie, believes the draw is not is not the worst result for his kennel star.
“You can never be pleased with the five box, but I think the one thing in his favour is although the other seven are probably quicker to the first turn they will need to be leading to win, whereas he is capable of coming from behind them in the field,” Fletcher said.
“We will have to hope he can find a road round them but he is capable of that.
“He cannot be any fitter, he loves the track and he is ready to race.”
Like many who witnessed the heat win, Fletcher was impressed with the maturity Whittaker showed in that race.
“I was delighted with his run, when he ran into the six in the home straight he was entitled to get beaten but he still got up and won. He is racing well and has really taken to Wentworth Park and that’s a bonus,” he said.
“I think it’s nice to see a greyhound who can win like that. I’ve always loved watching the stayers that can do that, like Sweet it Is. You just get an extra thrill seeing them win like that.
“He’s also got a good record at Wentworth Park. He has won four out of six there and seems to really like it there. If you take to any track, you might as well make it the metropolitan track with the most prizemoney.”
For the Fletchers, the fact Whittaker has made the final of one of the biggest races in Australia is a huge thrill.
“I will certainly be nervous – in fact, the older I get the more nervous I get,” Bruce said.
“You hope he gets round safely but it would be a dream to win this. It’s the first time I’ve had one in the Paws of Thunder. I’ve been in nearly all the other ‘big ones’ so to get this one would be something special. We will be beside ourselves if we can win.”
Dyna Villa (box eight) is the favourite in early markets for the Paws Of Thunder, with Assertive Bella (box one) and Shoulders (box six) on the second line of betting.
Click here for the fields and expert form for the Wentworth Park Saturday meeting.
