As the winner of seven races Ritza Rossi looked the bet of the night in his heat of the fifth grade Ladbrokes Sprint Series at Wentworth Park last Saturday and after blitzing his rivals in that event shapes up as this Sunday's star wager in the final.
Ritza Rossi has box six but handled box five with ease when he set the time standard in the heats, stopping the clock at a sizzling 29.75 and running home in a brilliant 11.63.
"He pulled up well after the heat and if he gets a clear run like he did last week I'm very confident about his chances,'' trainer Mark Gatt said.
"Because of the way he races Ritza Rossi can be a punters' nightmare as he tends to be a bit slow early so can sometimes find trouble.''
Joe Scerri, who formerly worked for Gatt at his Thirlmere kennels, has bright prospects of taking out Sunday night's gbota.com.au Stakes with Light Confess.
Light Confess rattled home to finish third to Alfie Magic at his Wentworth Park debut on March 2 and Scerri believes he is ideally positioned in box one.
"When he raced at Wenty last week he had only seen the track once previously, and that had been in a trial four months earlier,'' Scerri said.
"He didn't begin as well as he can at his last start so hopefully he will come out a bit better from box one.
"I think he can get down to around 30 seconds at Wenty because he can clock close to those figures at Dapto and times at the two tracks are similar.
"I'd love to win a race in town with this dog because I named him after a very good greyhound my grandfather Paul Micallef trained in the 1960s.''
Best value bet on Sunday night could be the Christine Proctor-trained Runway Idole, who has box five in the ladbrokes.com.au Stakes.
Runway Idole came from box seven to win in a slick 30.08 at Gosford two starts back before finishing down the course there on Tuesday night.
"She missed the jump on Tuesday and had no luck, but Runaway Idole, who likes to get wide, is capable of beginning smartly," Proctor said.
"She has had a post to post hand slip at Wenty so knows her way around the course.''
It's not often a couple of 280m dashes appeal as the most attractive events of the night but two heats of the Ladbrokes Lightning Blitz on Sunday have attracted several of NSW's best short course speedsters.
Haich Two Mo, who has box one in heat one, is chasing his sixth successive win for trainer Trevor Rice.
He will have no easy task, though, as he is up against Dicaprio, winner of 16 from 30 races, including 11 of his past 17 appearances.
Rockin' Bingo, who equalled the Richmond 330m record of 18.37 before winning in just outside record time over 307m at Bathurst, has box one in heat two.
Rockin' Bingo, trained by Steven Jones, takes on prolific sprint winner Spiders Brother, who has won seven of his past 11 races for trainer Neil Staines.
Haich Two Mo's trainer Trevor Rice is pleased his dog has box one.
"Haich Two Mo is not a lid pinger, he usually comes out a half length or length behind the leaders,'' Rice said.
"I prefer him over a bit further ground the 280m, something like the 365m at Nowra, butwhen he does begin he is capable of running record sectional times.''
Rockin' Bingo, who has won four of his past five races, has not started at Wentworth Park but trialled extra well over the 280m trip there last Tuesday night.
"He clocked 16.05 and I'm happy with his box one draw on Sunday,'' trainer Jones said.
"Early in his career Rockin' Bingo liked to use a bit of the track but he rails much better now.''
For Wentworth Park Sunday fields, form and expert picks, click here.
Jeff Collerson's Wentworth Park Sunday picks:
Best Bet: Ritza Rossi (Race 7)
Best Value: Runway Idole (Race 10)
Quaddie: Race 5 - 6, 8, 3
Race 6 - 4, 1, 5
Race 7 - 6, 2
Race 8 - 5, 2, 3
$20 for 37.03%
