Exciting chaser De Blue Kahn looks primed to extend his recent record to six wins in-a-row tonight at Grafton.
The Stephen Attwater-trained greyhound has been impressive in recent weeks, including a huge 8 3/4 length victory in the night’s best time of 22.97 last week.
Heading into tonight's race, De Blue Kahn seems ideally drawn in the checks in race eight - the greyhoundproductsdirect.com Stakes (407m).
While Attwater is pleased with the draw, he remains realistic about his greyhound's chances.
"Tonight is going to be his toughest test so far, so I'm interested to see how he performs," says the trainer.
"I'm happy he's drawn box two. It should give him the best chance at a good run."
The greyhound's chances have also been bolstered by the scratching of Nangar Thunder (box three), who Attwater believes would have been the biggest danger in the race.
"Nangar Thunder is a very similar greyhound to De Blue Kahn. They're both a bit tardy at the start and it would have been interesting to see how they went against each other especially in the final stages.
"Now he's been scratched, it does make the task a little easier but not by much"
While De Blue Kahn's success has come quite recently, Attwater admits it was a long journey to get the greyhound to the level he's
"He's come a long way since we started racing him. He used to play badly in the boxes but he seems to have got over that now," says Attwater."
"If somebody had told me three or four months ago that he would be doing what he's doing right now, I would have laughed at them.
"He had very bad box manners at the beginning and was giving away huge starts but he seems to have settled down now.
"I've taken him away to a few non-TAB meets at Wauchope to get his confidence up and give him some experience and it seems to have worked."
If De Blue Kahn continues to perform well, Attwater is keen to give him a challenge.
"Depending on how he goes, I might give him some runs around Casino and Lismore before possibly taking him up to Albion Park.
"It's about a four hour drive up there, but it could be worth it."
In other action at Grafton tonight, the Charlie Northfield-trained Kingsbrae Missy will be looking to back-up from her impressive debut win at Casino in race six, the Willow Park Rearing 0-1 Wins Stakes (480m).
Kingsbrae Missy was beaten on debut despite being a firm favourite, but was able to make amends with a solid all-the-way win in 23.44 two weeks ago.
The Sonia Kempshall-trained Slender Jappa will be looking to continue his recent run of good form at Grafton in race one, the Westlawn Finance Stakes (305m).
Slender Jappa has had two wins and two second placings in his last four starts at the track and will be suited by the drop back in distance tonight.
He also looks ideally drawn out wide in box seven but may have some stiff competition from Bushy Dude in box five who returns here after a long break but has been trailing well at the track in preparation.
Dash Doll, trained by Darryl Chapman, showed an impressive turn of speed in her maiden victory at the track last week and looks like the one to beat yet again from box eight in race ten (Clarence Valley Sheds Stakes, 305m).
For the full Grafton fields, expert analysis and tips, click here.
