Finale wound up a distant fifth at his most recent Wentworth Park start but the Julie Fletcher-trained star is poised to bounce back with a vengeance in tonight's 520m Free-For-All at headquarters.
Finale, who had won five races in succession before finishing down the course at Wentworth Park on October 10, has drawn the rails.
The Julie Fletcher-trained greyhound, who is chasing his ninth win in 16 races, clocked a sizzling 26.28sec in winning over 472m at Bulli on September 1 at his only start from the inside alley.
Fletcher's husband Bruce said: "Finale was a bit flat after his last run at Wenty so we gave him a few days off.
"But he trialled 29.90 at Wentworth Park last week and a couple of leading trainers who were at the trials reckoned the track was not particularly fast on that night.
"Finale is a mad railer so is ideally boxed but for some reason he tends to drift off the track as he leaves the back straight.
"When he did that at his last start at Wentworth Park a wide runner got up inside him and carted him off the course.
"Julie and I didn't put Finale in the Million Dollar Chase because we did not really think he was quite up to that class.
"But in hindsight we probably should have entered him because quite a few dogs which are not big name sprinters progressed through the series.''
Trainer Peter Mattress believes box one give his consistent front-runner Esther's Bella a great chance of breaking through for her first Wentworth Park win in tonight's 520m Ladbrokes Odds Boost Stakes.
Esther's Bella Chased tearaway leader Galaxy Banner to the home bend before finishing third, from box two, at Wentworth Park last Wednesday.
Esther's Bella has been placed in three of her six Wentworth Park outings but is improving with each start, and last week recorded 30.15, her fastest 520m time on the Glebe circuit.
"The winner just went too quick for her last week and Esther's Bella probably went about as good as she can go,'' Mattress said.
"She continues to improve and is right at her peak now.
"Box one is perfect because she is a keen railer and hopefully from the inside draw she will be off and gone by the time they reach the first turn.
"She could possibly be even a little bit stronger at the finish this week than she was last Wednesday.''
Tonight promises to be profitable for punters who like supporting box one runners as Sammy Downs, second fastest qualifier for the 520m Dapto to Wentworth Park Final, has also drawn the rails trap.
In last week's 520m Dapto heats Sammy Downs showed brilliant early pace to cross the field and lead throughout from box five.
While Quick Dollars' win in 29.94 was superior to Sammy Downs' 30.17sec performance, that greyhound has box three while Sammy Downs has the advantage of being positioned closer to the rails.
Sammy Downs also posted quicker sectional times at Dapto than Quick Dollars, who clocked splits of 5.43 and 17.32 compared with the box one dog's figures of 5.36 and 16.97sec.
Trainer John Maroun could land a winning double tonight as his greyhounds Maharani and Lots Of Diamonds, who each found trouble from box eight at Wentworth Park last Wednesday, have drawn ideally in box one.
Maharani will wear the red rug in the 520m Shake And Bake Stakes while Lots Of Diamonds will carry the scarlet livery in the 520m Ladbrokes Info Hub Stakes.
Best Bet Finale (race 8)
Best Value Esther's Bella (race 7)
Quaddie race 5 - 8, 1, 2
Race 6 - 1, 8, 7
Race 7 - 1, 8
Race 8 - 1, 2, 6
$20 for 37.03%
