The box draw for this Saturday night's Group 1 National Derby has thrown the Wentworth Park final wide open, with fastest heat winners Lightning Frank and Nangar Rock drawing poorly in boxes four and five respectively.
Nangar Rock, trained at Cudal by Dennis Barnes, led throughout in his heat in 29.88 while Lightning Frank, who won Melbourne's Group 1 Silver Chief early this month, led all the way in 29.96.
Nangar Rock surprised trainer Barnes who had been disappointed when the dog finished last at Wentworth Park on January 21.
"Because of that run I was not confident tonight but Nangar Rock nailed the start and went terrific,” Barnes said. "I guess it just shows he can be a different dog when he is on the bunny.''
Lightning Frank's trainer Matt Wright was hoping for an inside draw so was slightly dejected at seeing his dog draw box four.
"Lightning Frank needs at least one, sometimes two runs on a track to show his true ability,'' Wright said. "That's why I brought him to Sydney for a trial last week and after he clocked 30.01 I expected him to improve tonight and he recorded 29.96.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he went a bit quicker again in the final, as long as he jumps cleanly and gets a clear run.''
Lightning Frank is raced by a syndicate of five and his heat win rewarded one of the owners, Brad Miller, who drove for 18 hours from his home in Warrnambool to watch Lightning Frank in action.
Third fastest qualifier for the Derby is the Angela Langton-trained Hit The Highway, who came from third early to win his heat in 29.99.
Hit The Highway, who made full use of box one in his heat win, has drawn box three in the final.
NSW-trained Derby heat winners were Black Hole Sun, who won in 30.57sec and has drawn box seven in the final, and Good Odds Bricky, who will exit box six after coming from last to win his heat in 30.38sec.
Tracey Hurst, who handled Good Odds Bricky on behalf of husband Frank, the dog's trainer, said: "I gave up watching when I noticed our dog in last place at the first turn.
"Even when they crossed the line I didn't think he had won because Good Odds Bricky had the red, white and blue number 10 rug and I believed Cosmical, who had the black and white two rug, had won.
"I even congratulated Cosmical's trainer Craig Chappelow and he turned to me and said, Tracey, your dog won!''
Box draw for the Derby is 1 Big Daddy Bee 2 Duty Free 3 Hit The Highway 4 Lightning Frank 5 Nangar Rock 6 Good Odds Bricky 7 Black Hole Sun 8 Dyna Boomer with reserves Nangar Bear and Agent Kade.
Meanwhile, the Group 1 National Futurity, Wentworth Park's major race for female greyhounds, looks a match after the most impressive heat winners Up Hill Jill and Striker Light drew the two inside boxes.
Fastest qualifier Up Hill Jill, who took out the Group 2 Sandown Laurels in October, has box two while Striker Light, who overcame a slow start from a poor draw in her heat win, has box one.
Striker Light took 30.46 to win but had recorded 30.01 in taking out a heat of the Ladbrokes Paws Of Thunder at Wentworth Park on January 14.
She has won eight from 15 starts and after bungling the start and looking a forlorn hope in her Futurity heat, she railed underneath Miss Abbeyvale to lead at the first turn.
Up Hill Jill exited box two in her heat, leading throughout to score by just on 10 lengths in 29.87 and posting dazzling splits of 5.39, 13.69 and 17.89.
Striker Light's trainer Brett Bravo was delighted at getting box one but after the draw was completed added: "I didn't want Up Hill Jill drawn immediately alongside my greyhound.''
Bravo has a second Futurity finalist in Andrea Doria, who led all the way to score by nine lengths in 30.12, while Mainline Osti was the sole non-Victorian heat winner, coming from second on the home bend to clock 30.16.
"I was hoping for an inside draw so am obviously disappointed at getting box six,'' Mainline Osti's trainer Ashley Dwyer said.
"Tonight I saw several Victorian greyhounds which had not trialled at Wenty before the heats bite the dust,” Up Hill Jill’s trainer David Geall said. “I'm glad I went to the trouble of bringing Up Hill Jill to Sydney for a look at the track last week.
"In her trial Up Hill Jill ran 30.14 but I expected her to go quicker in her heat because she had a good draw and always benefits from a run on a track.''
Box draw for the National Futurity: 1 Striker Light 2 Up Hill Jill 3 Red Calibre 4 Andrea Doria 5 Jody Lee Kade 6 Mainline Osti 7 Daithy Allen 8 Princess Pout with reserves Flying Mikayla and Carla Zeus.
