The all-conquering Andrea Dailly kennel believes it has a great chance of having two runners in each of the Group 1 National Futurity and National Derby classics at Wentworth Park on Saturday week.
Dailly has 12 gryehounds competing in the semi finals including Kerrigan Bale in box one in the second Futurity semi-final and Dyna Nico (box five) in the third semi of the Futurity along with Dyna Tiber (box one) and Fernando Bale (box one) in the first and second Derby semi-finals.
“Kerrigan Bale is probably better suited out wide but she drove up beautifully to win her heat from box one," Dailly's husband Tom said. "I have no complaints about having the same alley in the semi-final.
“Dyna Nico (pictured) has the speed to overcome box five and she is usually a safe beginner.
“She was checked at the start before finishing third in her Futurity heat and I thought her run was very good.
“Fernando Bale clocked 5.29 to the first mark in his heat win and then ran 29.65, second fastest time of the night overall, so he looks very hard to beat from box one."
Dailly is also hopeful one of his other chasers goes well in the Derby semi-finals.
“Dyna Tiber’s run was good last week because I thought from box eight, having never seen the track, he might get too far out of his ground early," Dailly said.
“He rattled home to be narrowly beaten and with the benefit of the look at the track and the rails box I expect him to run a big race.’’
Victorian trainer Jeff Britton rates his bitch Weblec Belle a great chance from box one in the second Futurity semi-final but isn’t giving up on Oakvale Destiny in the first semi despite her box five draw.
“Boxes don’t matter so much to Oakvale Destiny because she is inclined to drop out in the early stages anyway,’’ Britton said.
“It all depends on what sort of run she gets but she is a tenacious chaser with a terrific finishing burst.
“I’ve also had a big opinion of Weblec Belle and I was very pleased with her third placing in Megan Keeping’s heat.
“She had never seen the track and was never out of trouble from box three.
“Weblec Belle would possibly by better off drawn wide but I think the rails box may drag her out of the boxes a bit faster so I’m happy with that position.’’
Sydney’s most improved young dog, Opus Forte, is set to qualify for the National Derby final according to trainer Luke Azzopardi.
“I’ll be surprise if he doesn’t reach the final,’’ Azzopardi said after Opus Forte came up with box two in the third Derby semi-final.
“If he comes out without getting touched he’ll be very hard to beat this week.
“Opus Forte has more pace than most people think, he only has to begin cleanly to show it.
“His draw looks good because Winsome Jacko, who has box one, has been missing the kick.’’
Good value on Saturday night should be Smooth Number, who has box one in the 720m Macro Meats Gourmet Game Stakes.
The consistent Allen Hansen-trained dog has had a win and two placings from four WP 720m assignments and was unlucky when a distant second in fast time behind Victoria’s Double Rinse last week.
Smooth Number was stopped in his tracks when he ran into the rear of a tiring runner leaving the back straight and while he was not going to win he was certainly going to finish a lot closer than the ultimate nine-and-a-half lengths margin.
For Wentworth Park Saturday fields, form and expert picks, click here.
Jeff Collerson's Wentworth Park Saturday tips:
Best Bet: Kerrigan Bale (Race 3)
Best Value: Opus Forte (Race 8)
Quaddie: Race 5 – 1, 2, 7
Race 6 – 1, 6
Race 7 – 5, 1, 2
Race 8 – 2, 3, 6
$20 for 37.03%
