Mrs Bubbles may have drawn tough on first glance for tomorrow’s Bargain Steel Centre SA Sprint Championship (515m) but trainer Matthew Payne is still confident his greyhound can take out the race.
The daughter of El Grand Senor and Kiowa Angel (currently $3.20 with Sportsbet) jumps from box five having earned her place in the $15,000-to-the-winner listed race with a sparkling run in last week’s heats.
Facing a tough field including fellow finalists Worm Burner, It’s Classified and He’s A Villain, Mrs Bubbles jumped solidly from box four and held off her fast-finishing rivals to win in a strong 29.78.
“I would have taken three, four or five as I didn’t want her out wide,” Payne said.
“She’s barely drawn the inside boxes in her career, so he’s had plenty of experience from the middle boxes.
“She’s starting to jump better and we are delighted with her at the moment.”
Last week’s run was a fitting way for Mrs Bubbles to mark her 50th career start and extended her record to 22 wins and 12 minor placings.
Her solid 2015 has also earned a nomination for the SA Greyhound of the Year title.
Worm Burner (box two, $3.20) finished narrowly behind Mrs Bubbles in last week’s heats and looks the big danger from box two.
He has scored 12 wins from 19 starts and has had to contend with plenty of wide draws so far in his career, so should relish moving closer to the rail.
Worm Burner ran 29.40 from box three at Angle Park on December 17 and has won once and placed once on three previous starts with the checks.
“If he gets a clear run, he will take some beating,” Payne said. “He can be a bit tardy early sometimes, though.
“Mrs Bubbles went off a bit towards the end of last year. We freshened her up and she’s come back better than ever.
“There’s class greyhounds drawn inside her here but she can handle being in the middle of the track and she can give this a shake.”
It’s Classified (box four, $4.20) can improve on his third place finish last week and has a scorching best of 29.51 at Angle Park, but has also drawn unfavourably.
Liam’s Entity (box three, $6.50) returned to form with his second place finish last week and looks the best bolter chance.
He ran 29.85 from box three at Angle Park in November and has run well since transferring to Ben Rawlings’ kennel a month previously.
The final jumps at 9.42pm (AEDST) and is race eight of an 11-race card at Angle Park on Thursday night.
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Prices correct at the time of writing.
