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Multiple Group 1 winner Dyna Double One, recent Group 2 Gosford Cup winner Knight Sprite and Group 1 Vic Peters Classic winner Zambora Brockie head the list of contenders for this Saturday’s top-quality heats of the Group 1 Ladbrokes Paws Of Thunder (520m).
Eight heats of the $100,000-to-the-winner series take place at Wentworth Park, with the winner from each contest qualifying for next week’s final.
Dyna Double One kicks off the action, exiting from box three in heat one.
Saturday’s race will be the first start for Dyna Double One since he finished sixth in last month’s Group 1 Hobart Thousand.
That disappointing result ended a sensational run of form for Dyna Double One which saw him take out the Group 1 Melbourne Cup and the Group 1 Brisbane Cup.
Dyna Double One has a good record at Wentworth Park with three wins and three minor placings from seven previous visits to Wentworth Park and is a threat from any draw.
Dyna Double One is just one of 20 greyhounds from the mighty Andrea Dailly kennel which are competing in the Paws Of Thunder heats, with the Victorian trainer sure to be competitive in each race on Saturday night.
In other heats, Zambora Brockie leads the NSW hopefuls in the series for gun Western Sydney trainer Anthony Azzopardi and will surely be hard to stop from box one in heat five.
He has not run since scoring his sixth win in nine visits to Wentworth Park on December 19 with a 29.80 win and looks ideally drawn, having won both of his previous starts from box one.
Knight Sprite, meanwhile, jumps from box one in the sixth fresh from his thrilling victory at Gosford last Friday.
He has only scored two wins from seven previous starts from the rails draw but ran 29.81 at Wentworth Park last month and with four triumphs from his last six starts, he looks the one to beat in his heat.
Others to watch include last year’s Group 1 Dapto Megastar winner Fantastic Spiral (box five, heat one), gun NSW contender Smart Missile (box one, heat two) and double Group winner Elfen Bale (box two, heat three).
Last month’s Group 3 John Stollery Memorial Christmas Gift winner Black Bear Lee (box seven, heat four) and evergreen NSW star Bessy Boo (box eight, heat five and is pictured), who won at Wentworth Park last Saturday night on his 107th start, also feature.
Last year’s Golden Easter Egg runner-up Dawkins Bale (box seven) and fellow Victorian Tap Out Rose (box eight), who has been in sensational form in Victoria recently, do battle in heat seven.
Possible future star Snakebite Bale (box five) and in-form Pedro Cerrano (box seven), who won last week at Wentworth Park in 30.01, are ones to watch in heat eight.
The night also features two heats of the Group 2 Summer Distance Plate (720m), which feature some of the country’s top stayers.
Recent Group 1 Sale Cup winner No Donuts (box five) and double Group winner Ada Mary (box six) do battle in the first heat, while heat two features November’s Group 1 Bold Trease winner Bourbski Fever (box five).
Former Victorian Porrentruy (box four, heat one), who won on his first Wentworth Park start last Saturday night in 42.06 and has run well since moving to NSW recently, looks a decent bolter.
For Wentworth Park Saturday fields and form, click here.
