Cosmic Bonus has won his past two starts from boxes eight and six but trainer Evelyn Harris is thrilled with his box two draw in Tuesday night's third Heat of the Woy Woy Poultry Gold Cup.
First and second in each of four Heats will contest the $40,000 to the winner final of the Group 2 Gosford race over 515m on Tuesday, January 2.
Harris and her husband Leonard have been successful trainers for over 40 years but have not won a Gosford Cup, finishing second with Magic Display in Awesome Project's 2014 final.
"Some of our friends reckon Cosmic Bonus is better suited drawn wide but Leonard and I both like to see him on the rails so box two is great,'' Harris said.
"Since Cosmic Bonus won at Wentworth Park on December 16 he has not trialled behind the mechanical lure, he has just been hand-slipped regularly up the 366m straight track we have at home near Grafton.
"He had a good 300m hit-out on Saturday morning and that is all he needs to have him at his top for Tuesday's Heat.''
Cosmic Bonus should get the run of the race as Utah Miss, who has box one, is coming off a 600m middle distance win at Gosford while Wait There, who has drawn three, is a wide runner.
When Wait There drew box two at Wentworth Park on December 16 he veered off the track at the first turn, so he should ensure Cosmic Bonus gets a clear passage when he leaves the boxes.
Another trainer up-beat about his greyhound's draw in the Gosford Cup is Hank Vanderburg, whose bitch Miss Splendamiro has box one in Heat four.
"She is in a hot field but one has to expect to take on the best in a race like this,'' Vanderburg said.
"That's why it always helps when your greyhound gets the right box and Miss Splendamiro has certainly got that.''
Miss Splendamiro has won three of her four races from box one and drew the rails when a runaway winner at Gosford last week, covering the 515m Cup course in a slick 29.68, fastest time of the night.
Miss Splendamiro is expected to strike tough opposition tonight from last year's Woy Woy Poultry Cup winner Barking Bad and from the South Australian visitor Barton Bale.
Barking Bad is well positioned in box seven while Barton Bale boasts the outstanding strike rate of 19 wins from 31 starts.
This year's Cup Heats have attracted an unprecedented number of interstate greyhounds including One Required and Kadalex Kid, trained in Victoria by Graeme Jose.
Kadalex Kid won first up at Gosford last week but while One Required was unplaced at his only start on the central coast track, Jose rates him the better of his pair.
"One Required is a class dog and finished fourth to Melbourne Cup winner Aston Dee Bee in the Ballarat Cup final on December 2,'' Jose said.
"But he has drawn box one in Heat one on Tuesday and I would have much preferred to see him out wide.''
One Required's toughest rivals look to be the Wentworth Park Christmas Gift winner Riley Tokaam and the JODIE Lord-trained Rohan Hill.
They are both wide runners so are suitably positioned in boxes seven and eight respectively.
Heat two looks a match race between Black Hole Sun, box five, and Joyce Rumble, box four.
Black Hole Sun has won at Gosford in a fast 29.64 and is in career best form while Joyce Rumble, a Gosford newcomer, has won 10 of 23 races, including a scorching 29.73 performance at Brisbane's Albion Park.
Those figures were only .22sec outside the track record held by former champion Melbourne dog Dyna Double One.
Jeff Collerson’s Selection’s
Best Bet Cosmic Bonus (race 7)
Best Value Joyce Rumble (race 6)
Quaddie
Race 5 - 7, 8, 2
Race 6 - 4, 5
Race 7 - 2, 1, 7
Race 8 - 1, 7, 2
$20 for 37.03%
