All eyes will be on Richmond on Saturday night to see which greyhounds will qualify for the $100,00 Richmond Riches Puppy Classic final.
The Mark Gatt-trained greyhound Ritza Lenny will head into Saturday’s semi finals having qualified with the fastest time when he won his 535m heat in 30.32.
Ritza Lenny will start from box seven in the fourth semi final (race eight) and if he runs up to his recent form will be in a strong chance of qualifying for Saturday’s week’s lucrative final.
He has yet to start from box seven, but has had three starts in box eight for one win and one minor placing so should be able to handle the wide draw with aplomb.
His biggest dangers in the semi final appear to be the in-form Battle Station (box one who is aiming for four straight wins), Vidi Vici (box two) and Paua To Rush (box five), who won his heat in 30.91
Paua To Rush is one of three semi finalists for former NSW trainer Steve White.
Now based in Victoria, White also has Paua To Avoid (box five, semi final two) and Paua To Engage (box six, semi final three).
Paua To Avoid finished second in her heat last week to the Tony Brett-trained Thirty Talks and will meet that greyhound again in the semi finals.
Thirty Talks, who won his heat in 30.47, will jump from box six in the semi final and based on his current form will be very hard to hold out.
White’s other runner is Paua To Engage who will jump from box six in the third semi final.
Paua To Engage won her heat in 30.75 but now finds herself up against Et Cetera (box two) who was most impressive in his come-behind heat win in 30.63.
The other semi final (race five, semi final one) looks to be the most open of the night with not one of the heat winners in the field.
Brock On (box four) looks to have a lot of ability based on his previous runs in Western Australia and should take benefit from his third placing in his heat last week, which was his first race start at the track.
The Richmond Riches Puppy Classic series is open to greyhounds sold at the 2014 Richmond Puppy Auction.
The top two placegetters in each semi final qualify for next week’s final, which will be worth $100,000 to the winner.
Click here for fields, form and expert tips for Richmond's meeting on Saturday night.
