Bekin Street may have qualified slowest for Saturday night’s Group 1 Ladbrokes Vic Peters Classic at Wentworth Park, but the greyhound is set to start favourite for the race after drawing box one.
The Christine Proctor-trained Bekin Street had box six when a luckless third in Crash Bandicoot's 29.93 semi-final while chasing his eighth win in 12 Wentworth Park appearances.
But Bekin Street, who had drawn closer to the rails than box four in just three of his 23 starts, came up with the prized rails trap for the Group 1 final.
“I wanted box one desperately with this dog,'' Proctor said.
“Week in and week out he draws poorly so I suppose he was due to get a decent draw.”
Bekin Street's third placing squeezed him into the final a mere split second ahead of Curtain Call, who finished third to kennelmate Rostered On and is now first reserve.
Rostered On won in 30.10 while the JODIE Lagogiane-trained Shallay Pallay shared fastest winning semi time, clocking 29.93 in beating the Victorian-trained Chasin' Crackers.
Shallay Pallay had box four when he led throughout in his semi-final and the Lagogiane family, who were hoping for box two or four in the final, got their wish, with their greyhound set to wear the black and white striped rug.
“Shallay Pallay does not begin as well when he is in the boxes for too long,” Lagogiane's husband Peter said.
“So because the even numbered boxed dogs go in last, we wanted him close to the rails but not in box one or three. Box two is perfect and gives us a great chance of landing our first group 1 winner.”
Lagogiane scored a double on Saturday night with Shallay Pallay and took out the 720m event with Egyptian Pirate.
Chris Carl, who has Rostered On in the final, can count himself unlucky not to have also qualified with Curtain Call.
“Curtain Call looked like he was going to run down Rostered On but ran into the back of his litter brother at the top of the straight,” Carl said.
“That collision certainly cost Curtain Call second placing, but it could have been worse because he almost dragged Rostered On down in the process.”
The only trainer with two finalists is hobby trainer Daniel Flanagan, manager of the Heddon Greta Hotel in the Hunter Valley. Flanagan qualified with Only Want Mum and Surfing Dyno, who will be the two outsiders in Saturday's final.
Box draw for the 67th running of the Group 1 Ladbrokes Vic Peters is:
1. Bekin Street
2. Shallay Pallay
3. Allonsy Grace
4. Rostered On
5. Only Want Mum
6. Crash Bandicoot
7. Chasin' Crackers
8. Surfing Dyno
Reserves
9. Curtain Call
10. Bombshell Bandit.
