Miley Nismo only has to leave the starting boxes with her usual dash to cause an upset in tonight’s NSW final of the Crocmedia National Sprint Championship at Wentworth Park.
Usually a reliable beginner, Miley Nismo inexplicably bungled the start before finishing a gallant second to Sorry Scott in her heat at Wentworth Park last Saturday night.
She knuckled over and almost fell at box rise but secured a clear rails run around the first turn to be trailing the winner entering the back straight.
Tony MASON, whose wife Nichole owns and trains Miley Nismo, was unsure what happened to their greyhound when she jumped last Saturday, but said she is raring to go tonight.
"She pulled up perfectly after the heat, in fact she has never seemed better,'' MASON said.
"I gave her a hand-slip on Monday and her training usually comprises around 220 metres up the straight and back again.
"On Monday when she got back to me she tried to dodge me and tried run back up the straight again so we had to grab her to prevent her from doing too much.
"To me that indicated she is really well because she just wanted to keep running.''
Miley Nismo has box five tonight but her record suggests she runs her best races from middle draws.
Miley Nismo has won six of her seven races from boxes four, five and six but Tony MASON cautions: "She has got to come out cleanly.''
Fastest heat winner Jamella Jet, who clocked 29.76s, has box three, while her Andrew Crouch-trained kennelmate Sorry Scott, who won her heat in 29.99s, has eight.
Frank Hurst's consistent siblings Good Odds Harada and Good Odds Buddy look well positioned in boxes one and two, providing they do not collide in the charge to the first turn.
Poco Dorado is poised to represent NSW in the National Distance Championship final in Perth despite finishing fifth to Ebby Ripper in last week's GBOTA 80th Anniversary Cup, 720m.
Poco Dorado began cleanly from box five but was severely hampered while disputing the early lead with Bourbski Bar and dropped out to finish fifth in the Cup.
A winner of 12 from 20 Wentworth Park 720m races, Poco Dorado should be vastly improved by last week's hard run as trainer John Finn was concerned before the event that she had not had a long-distance race for three weeks.
Blue Moon Rising, sent out a $2.20 favourite when second in Ebby Ripper's race last Saturday, moves from his ideal box one draw to a tricky box eight alley on Saturday.
Ebby Ripper, who notched her 30th win in 115 races last week, is well placed in box two and will relish the small field of seven.
Ultimate Speed, who ran the race of his life when second to Cullinan in a smart 30s at his Wentworth Park debut on July 24, looks hard to beat in Saturday's 520m Ladbrokes Odds Boost Stakes.
Ultimate Speed had never seen Wentworth Park before exiting box three and chasing Cullinan all the way, beaten by only a length.
The dog failed to finish in a subsequent start at Sandown on July 28 but trainer Brian Smith has declared Ultimate Speed 100 per cent fit for Thursday night.
"At Sandown a dog fell over in front of Ultimate Speed and my dog had to stop altogether,'' Smith said.
"He took no harm from the mishap but to make sure I have trialled him since and he went well.
"Box two on Thursday is good because near the rails is where Ultimate Speed wants to be.''
Best Bet Poco Dorado (race 8)
Best Value Miley Nismo (race 5)
Quaddie race 5 - 5, 2, 3
Race 6 - 4, 8, 2
Race 7 - 7, 1
Race 8 - 4, 5, 7
$20 for 37.03%
