This Saturday night's Group 3 Summer Cup final is wide open following a box draw which has placed heat winners Acheron and Lovelace in five and eight respectively.
Acheron came from a long way back to win his heat in 42.65 while Lovelace trailed Melissa's Pride to the home bend before surging to victory in identical time.
But this week Lovelace will move from the rails to the extreme outside and while Acheron won his heat wearing the yellow rug against just six rivals, he faces a tougher task to win the final from the middle draw in a full field.
Lovelace is the only greyhound Camden trainer John Smart has in his kennels and he believes the greyhound's current outstanding form is due to a recent spell.
"She was getting a bit stale so I gave her eight weeks off and brought her back with the Summer Cup the target, so every thing is going to plan,'' Smart said.
Acheron, trained at Casuarina by Steve Withers, is attempting to become the first WA-trained greyhound to win the Summer Cup since 1999, when JOYFUL AZZ scored in what was then race record time.
Whittaker, who turned four last month, will be the veteran of the Summer Cup line-up and while trainer Julie Fletcher admits he is "not quite as good as he was'' she is justifiably proud of her old warrior.
"I believe he has made every long distance group final held at Wentworth Park this year,'' she said.
Most suitably drawn in the final are April">Winsome April">April, box one, and Victoria's Ring The Bell, box two.
Gerry O'Keefe, Ring The Bell's trainer, was disappointed with his National Championship winner's fourth placing in Acheron's heat but remains upbeat for the final.
"Ring The Bell had box seven in his heat but in the final he will be starting from an inside box for the first time since he won the National title,'' O'Keefe said.
Runway Bono is likely to step up to 650m for the group 1 Sale Cup heats on December 18 following his slashing all-the-way win in Saturday night's Ladbrokes Monthly Medal Final (520m).
Runway Bono thwarted Bessy Boo's bid to win his 35th Wentworth Park race, stopping the clock at a blistering 29.65, .16sec inside his previous personal best figures.
Little Nangar won from box seven at her Wentworth Park debut on Saturday night but trainer Dennis Barnes believes she will be better suited from an inside draw.
Little Nangar railed underneath early leader Cannikin to hit the front at the half-way mark before racing away to win by five lengths in a nippy 30.10.
"While she had not previously raced at Wentworth Park I did trial here there and she recorded around the same time as she clocked in tonight's win,'' Barnes said later. "An inside box would suit her better than a wide draw.''
Thoroughbred trainer Gary Frazer was seen in a different role when Metal Magic, a greyhound he part-owns, led throughout in a 520m fifth grade on Saturday night.
Metal Magic won in 30.13 but ran home in a slick 11.96, prompting trainer George Borg to predict the dog would "get'' a middle distance.
While she does not turn three until March, the Keith Pedrana-trained Dawn Mini proved herself an "iron'' greyhound when she won a fourth and fifth grade 520m race on Saturday night at her 99th start.
Dawn Mini's time of 30.11 was only .06 slower than her personal best figures posted on April 6.
See you next week!
