Velocity Liberty established a huge lead before being caught on the line at Wentworth Park last Wednesday but connections believe she can atone in Wednesday’s second heat of the 520m Ladbrokes Previews Stakes at headquarters.
Velocity Liberty has box five but Glen Goodwin, whose wife Robyn trains her, is confident their greyhound's early brilliance can offset the middle draw.
"She won her maiden race at Wentworth Park from box five and that draw is fine for greyhounds with exceptional early pace,'' Goodwin said.
"When she raced last Wednesday Velocity Liberty was coming off a five day turnaround as she had raced at Dubbo on the previous Friday.
"Because of that Robyn could not gallop her between races but with a seven days' break this time it is a different story.
"Robyn gave Velocity Liberty a sprint up the straight on Saturday and again on Monday so we expect the greyhound to get to the finish more strongly this week.''
Last week Velocity Liberty was edged out by a head by Topper Soho, who got up in the last stride and clocked a slick 30.16.
Wednesday’s best bet should be the JODIE Lagogiane-trained Zipping Kelly, who faces only five opponents in race three, a 720m fifth grade.
Zipping Kelly made her Wentworth Park 720m debut last Wednesday and finished second, beaten just under a length, by the boom youngster Irinka Leanne.
The winner clocked top grade figures of 42.37 so Zipping Kelly should relish tackling Wednesday’s easier race.
She had no trouble handling box seven last week, indicating her extreme outside draw on Wednesday should present no problems.
Hit Record, whose seven Wentworth Park starts have yielded two wins, three seconds and a third, stands out in the opening event after drawing box one.
Hit Record has come from well back to win two of his past three Wentworth Park races, storming home from midfield to win a similar class event last Wednesday in the smart time of 30.05.
That was Hit Record's personal best Wentworth Park effort and the move from box five last week to the rails draw tonight could enable him to go faster.
"He is ideally boxed because he is such a good railer,'' trainer Patricia Chaker said.
"When he got on the bunny at Richmond early in his career he won in 30.82 so if he could be up near the lead at the first turn he can probably get down to around 29.80 at Wenty.
"Hit Record pulled up well after his win last week and my son Jackson, who helps with the training, has insisted we bring the dog along slowly.
"He is getting better all the time and the fact that he is such a good chaser is a big plus.''
Hardest for Hit Record to beat looms as Snow Fantasy, who possesses outstanding ability but has been plagued with poor box draws.
She was desperately unlucky when fourth from box eight at her most recent Wentworth Park start and while not perfectly drawn in box four tonight, is better placed being closer to the inside of the track.
Snow Fantasy has broken the 30 second barrier for the Bathurst 520m and the LADBROKES GARDENS 515m journeys so should be capable of getting down to around the 30 second mark at
Wentworth Park.
Blazin' Audrey will be sent out favourite for race five, the first leg of the TAB quaddie, but her tricky box five draw could bring her unstuck.
Laurie's Sticka, who has box four, could prevent Blazin' Audrey adopting her favourite role of pacemaker, and the draw brings Sammy Allen in with strong claims.
The Simon Rhodes-trained Sammy Allen drew box five when a strong finishing second to Pure Project in smart time at Wentworth Park last Wednesday and is far better positioned on Wednesday in box one.
Jeff Collerson’s Selection’s
Best Bet: Zipping Kelly (Race 3)
Best Value: Velocity Liberty (Race 2)
Quaddie
Race 5 - 1, 5
Race 6 - 8, 7
Race 7 - 3, 4, 8
Race 8 - 1, 8, 4
$20 for 55.55%
