Fastest qualifier Winsome Mission will meet boom kennelmate Winsome Prince in one of three mouthwatering Group 1 National Derby semi-finals.
Melinda Finn’s exciting pair of chasers will jump from boxes seven and four respectively in the first of Saturday night’s semis, with a place in the $75,000-to-the-winner final up for grabs.
Winsome Mission was a superb 29.62 winner of his heat last Saturday night, while Winsome Prince (pictured) came through in his heat in third place.
Finn believes the gun pup, who has won 13 of his first 16 starts, is currently lacking confidence after a recent fall at Wentworth Park.
Winsome Mission would be more of a danger closer to the inside but has been running very solidly at the Glebe track recently and should be hard to stop here.
Among the pair’s opposition will be Anthony Azzopardi’s Topper Road (box five), an impressive heat winner who usually runs well from the middle boxes.
Fernando Bale, who produced a near record first section while winning his heat last Saturday, has drawn well in the second high-quality semi-final.
He will start from box one and will be tough to stop if he repeats his blistering 29.65 run on his debut Wentworth Park run.
Recent Group 3 Devonport Cup winner and Tasmanian hopeful Dark Vito has drawn box three and may have been sharpened up by his third-placed finish in the heats.
Recent Paws of Thunder finalist Whittaker, who ran well behind Zipping Carter in the heats, has drawn seven here and is another threat.
Jason Mackay’s Zipping Carter has drawn box eight in the third semi-final and may find it tough to repeat that superb heat win.
The impressive newcomer faces another strong race here, including kennelmate and fellow heat winner Zipping Oscar (box six).
Another of Mackay’s talented chasers, Zipping Oscar has won all four of his previous starts from box six and is fast developing into a quality chaser.
Winsome Jacko sneaked into the semi-finals after finishing fourth in his heat but has drawn box one here.
He has not been challenging the leaders in recent weeks but has won from the inside box at Wentworth Park before and could threaten from the rail.
The National Derby final takes place at Wentworth Park next Saturday, the same night as the Group 1 National Futurity Final.
For Wentworth Park Saturday fields and form, click here.
