Aqua Cheetah is all the rage after drawing his favourite box in tonight's Group 1 Dapto Megastar but in-form trainer Jodie Lord is confident one of her three finalists can upset the fastest heat winner.
In last week's heats Aqua Cheetah came from box eight to win in 29.72 while Rohan Hill won in 29.89 with Barking Bad and Asa Barboza taking their qualifying races in 29.95 and 30.22 respectively.
Aqua Cheetah is trained in Victoria by Seona Thompson for Wagga breeder Ian Robertson and he says he was "desperate'' to see his greyhound in box eight again.
But Lord, who won last year's Megastar with Let It Develop, a week after taking out the Canberra Cup, believes history will repeat itself.
Lord won the recent Canberra Cup with Champion Model and has Asa Barboza (box one), Rohan Hill (four) and Zambora Cross, runner-up in Barking Bad's heat, in box seven in the Megastar.
"This is likely to a leader's race and one of the finalists running first or second at the first turn is will probably win,'' Lord said.
"A quality lineup like this points to the winner clocking around 29.70 so dogs which are back in the field will have trouble catching the pacemakers.
"Rohan Hill is the pick of my trio because when he won his heat he was still getting over a virus.
"He was 90 per cent at peak fitness in the heat but will be 100 per cent this week.
"Zambora Cross was unlucky when second in her heat and while Asa Barboza was the slowest heat winner, he is ideally drawn in box one and has clocked 29.60 at Dapto.''
Surprisingly Lord rates Where Art Thou, who flashed home when a close second in Asa Barboza's heat, as the hardest to beat.
Where Art Thou's trainer Kayla-Jane COLEMAN is "over the moon'' with her greyhound's box two draw.
"She had box seven in her heat and I didn't want her drawn wide in the final,'' COLEMAN said.
"Box seven would have been disastrous for a small bitch like Where Art Thou but she has a real chance from her perfect box two draw.
"She pulled up terrific after her great heat performance and is raring to go.''
The Megastar will mark the sixth group final appearance of Barking Bad, owned and trained by Michael Eberand.
Eberand, a financial advisor who previously managed 20,000ha cotton and corn farm in far western NSW, is happy with Barking Bad's box six draw.
"I wanted him boxed wide and the dog has never been in better form.
"He is going as well as, if not better, as he was when he won the group races The Collerson at Wentworth Park and Woy Woy Poultry Gold Cup at Gosford earlier this year.''
Aqua Cheetah's part-owner Ian Robertson will receive a financial windfall if his greyhound wins.
Not only is the dog on target to snare the $75,000 first prizemoney, but Robertson said: "Before the heats I backed him at $31 and again at $21 to win the final while I had placed $600 on him at $6.50 when he won his heat.''
Arguably the fastest greyhound in the Megastar is the Jason Mackay-trained Riley Tokaam, but he is usually a slow starter and as a wide runner would be better off in an outside alley than in box five.
Riley Tokaam chased home Aqua Cheetah in his heat and was beaten a length after giving the winner four lengths' start at the half-way mark.
In other action at Dapto Rockstar Jane, a certainty beaten when a close third in her heat, can atone in the 520m Let It Develop At Stud Final while Bombshell Bandit should lead throughout in race 3 and looks the best bet of the night.
Fields for tonight's meeting click here.
Jeff Collerson's picks
Best Bet: Bombshell Bandit (Race 3)
Best Value: Rockstar Jane (Race 5)
Quaddie
Race 5 - 4, 3, 2
Race 6 - 4, 8, 2
Race 7 - 7, 1, 2
Race 8 - 3, 5
$20 for 37.03%
