The box draw has thrown next Saturday night's Group 3 Sydney Cup (720m) open with heat winners More In Store and Miss Foxy Lee failing to secure perfect draws.
More In Store, who came from third in the middle stages to win in 42.37, exited box seven in her heat and has drawn six in the final.
Miss Foxy Lee made full use of box one to lead throughout in 42.47 in her heat, but she has come up with box eight next Saturday night.
However Danielle Swain, deputising for her trainer husband DEAN, who was at the Coonamble carnival, was philosophoical about Miss Foxy Lee getting box eight.
"It is better than her being jammed in the middle of the field because Miss Foxy Lee likes to get a clear view of where she is going,'' Swain said. "Being in a book-end box is preferable to drawing four, five or six.''
More In Store ran down Olivia Benson in her heat win and that greyhound, trained in WA by Darren Rowe, looks set to be the pacemaker in the final.
Rowe could not get to Wentworth Park on Saturday night but after the draw kennel spokesman Steven Jones said the draw would seemingly suit the greyhound.
"I phoned Darren to advise Olivia Benson drew box seven and he is happy," Jones said.
"He said Olivia Benson will run straight from the boxes to the first turn and with the early speed she possesses she has a good chance of being the pacemaker in the final.''
Chairman's Cup winner Whittaker missed the jump and was checked before coming from sixth early to finish fourth to More In Store and he is well placed in box three in the final.
National Distance Championship winner Ring The Bell had box five when he chased Miss Foxy Lee all the way in his heat and will wear the yellow rug again in the final.
Saturday night's feature 520m event, the Warren Mundine Appreciation Stakes, was taken out by Ritza Rossi, trained by Mark Gatt for owners Shaun Evans and Chris Nutt.
The eight nominations for the Warren Mundine had earned over $750,000 between them and Ritza Rossi's win took his earnings to $104,396.
Trainers often worry that when they have kennelmates boxed adjacent in a race they are likely to "find'' each other and collide early, but Craig Chappelow reckons the presence of Enrage helped his kennelmate Vintage Rox take out Saturday night's Wentworth Park 520m fourth grade.
"Enrage goes fast early and when he led from box two he seemed to prevent the dogs on the outside getting across and that gave the perfect rails run to Vintage Rox, who had box one,'' Chappelow explained.
"Enrage is fast early but not very strong so when Vintage Rox, who gets to the line powerfully, slipped along the rails to lead at the first turn, he was always going to be hard to beat.''
A drop in grade coupled with box one helped the Ron Lambert-trained Virouette lead throughout for her fifth Wentworth Park win in a 520m fifth grade.
"I bought Virouette and her brother Ink's Honour for $6000 when they were three months old because I had a good opinion of their mother, Spiral Ballerina,'' owner Ted Ciszewski said.
"Spiral Ballerina was from Victoria but had gone brilliantly in a Black Top series at my home track, The Gardens, and I believed she would be a good producer.''
Saturday's 520m time Honours went to Grafton-trained Nangar Thunder who clocked 29.62 while Bessy Boo won again, taking his record to 42 wins from 143 starts.
Box draw for the Sydney Cup is 1 Tanks Punk 2 Madliena Girl 3 Whittaker 4 Apatite 5 Ring The Bell 6 More In Store 7 Olivia Benson 8 Miss Foxy Lee with reserves Cardiology and Azurite.
See you next week!
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