Owner-trainer Tom Purtill believes Don't Knocka Tom is a good chance of returning to winning ways in the feature race at tonight's Grafton meeting.
Don't Knocka Tom jumps from box one in a competitive 4th/5th grade Willow Park Pre-Training Final (480m) after qualifying with a smart six-length win in 27.54 in last week's heats.
The greyhound has since had an unsuccessful outing at Casino on Friday, finishing sixth over the 484m, but Purtill believes his charge will benefit with a return to Grafton this evening.
"I don't think I'll take him to Casino again," Purtill said.
"He needs a back straight and a straight to show his best form. Lismore was his track - he won three races there - but he has run 27.42 in a performance trial at Grafton and seems to like the track.
"He's a 520 metre greyhound but doesn't mind this distance and I think he's looking good for this."
The toughest challenger in the final to Don’t Knocka Tom looks like Handsome Hombre (box eight), who won his heat in 27.79.
Others in contention include Hold Ya Breath (box two) who has scored four of his five career wins at Grafton and Mini Cousin (box four) who is awkwardly drawn but has won three of her last four starts.
In other Grafton action tonight, Jacaranda City (box three) looks the night's best bet in the first heat of the Ladbrokes 0-1 Wins Series (race three, 480m).
The Reg Gardoll-trained greyhound has gone unplaced in two starts so far but recorded impressive performance trials at Grafton and Lismore earlier this year and looks promising.
Velocity Val (box seven) and Fantasy Fox (box six) are both consistent greyhounds and look the top picks in races five and seven respectively.
For Grafton Monday fields, form and expert picks, click here.
