Dyna Double One spearheads an extraordinary contingent of 20 greyhounds that trainer Andrea Dailly has nominated for the heats of Saturday night's Grouip 1 Ladbrokes Paws Of Thunder at Wentworth Park.
Dyna Double One, who is arguably Australia's best sprinter following the retirement of Fernando Bale, will open proceedings from box three in heat one.
Dyna Double One has not started since being an unplaced favourite in the Group 1 Hobart Thousand on December 17 but Dailly's husband Tom says the greyhound is going as well as ever.
"We trialled him at Geelong a couple of days ago and he went extra well," he said.
Dailly is even more upbeat about the chances of his 2015 Wentworth Park Ladies Bracelet winner Elfen Bale, who has box two in heat three.
Elfen Bale loves Wentworth Park where she has won three of her five appearances and Tom said she has never been better.
"She trialled brilliantly at home the other day," he noted.
He said Marley Bale, a Wentworth Park newcomer, is also ideally drawn in box eight in heat two. However with Smart Missile drawn in box one in the same race, Dailly admitted that "we might be in trouble".
Smart Missile fell in the Group 2 Woy Woy Poultry Gosford Gold Cup on January 1 but trainer Jason Mackay said the greyhound was fine now.
Vic Peters Classic winner Zambora Brockie will be a hot favourite in heat five of the Paws Of Thunder, as he has drawn box one, with the Dailly-trained Dyna Tiber in box two.
"Dyna Tiber will want to run up the track so he will give the dog in box one plenty of room," Dailly said.
Dailly also has a good opinion of Ivy Bale, who has box two in heat four.
"She goes well if she is left alone early but she doesn't like being crowded," he said.
Ivy Bale's toughest rival is the Tracey Hurst-trained local dog Good Odds Ocker, who has won his only race from box one and will wear the red rug again.
Team Dailly could win heat six with Dawkins Bale, who has box seven and has had a win and two seconds from four Wentworth Park starts.
"He was completely out of form but turned that around with an impressive win at Ballarat on December 30," Tom Dailly said.
Dailly has high hopes for Snakebite Bale, a two-year-old who has won four of eight starts and has box five in the eighth Paws Of Thunder heat.
"He has a tricky draw but is a very promising youngster. In the same race we have Lektra Utopia in box one and he will be heading towards the grandstand when the boxes open because he is a very wide runner."
Saturday's card also features two heats of the Group 2 Summer Distance Plate (720m).
Ada Mary, who took out the Sydney Cup and Summer Cup double at Wentworth Park in 2015, lines up from box six in heat one against the NSW-trained Sale Cup winner No Donuts, who has box five.
There is a query over whether No Donuts will run a strong 720m but he is all class and is expected to lead for a long way, with Ada Mary likely to be the hardest to hold out.
No Donuts' new trainer Anthony Azzopardi holds a strong hand in heat two with Shoulders and Magic Earner in boxes two and six respectively.
The draw favours Shoulders although the best boxed runner is Zipping Maggie in box eight, who is the only greyhound in the field to have broken the 42 second barrier at Wentworth Park.
Trainer Marty Hallinan, though, has warned that the wet weather has played havoc with Zipping Maggie's preparation.
"It has been a bit of a rush to have her ready as she fell at her most recent race at Richmond on December 12," Hallinan said.
"I trialled her over 472m at Bulli a week ago and she went well enough and while I don't normally trial three days before a race I had no choice but to give her a hit-out over 600m at Dubbo on Wednesday.
"Zipping Maggie had never seen the track so she eased going through the catching pen but she ran home strongly which was encouraging."
Jeff Collerson's selections
Best Bet: Zambora Brockie (Race 5)
Best Value: Good Odds Ocker (Race 4)
Quaddie
Race 5 - 1, 8
Race 6 - 6, 5, 1
Race 7 - 1, 7, 8
Race 8 - 2, 6, 8
$20 for 37.03%
