Nangar Kane goes into Saturday night's NSW Bred Maiden Final at Wentworth Park as second slowest qualifier but the dog was a certainty beaten in his heat and has what seems a suitable box two draw.
In the February 12 heats Nangar Kane had box eight but after being midfield at the first turn was skittled and releGated to near last.
He came from a distant seventh at the half-way mark to finish third, beaten just over two lengths by the winner, Hell's Gate, who clocked 30.47.
Nangar Kane's trainer Neville Brown said: "I gave him a trial up the straight at Appin on Tuesday and while he didn't break any records, it was hard to gauge how well he went because of the state of the track.
"Boxes probably don't matter too much to Nangar Kane because his problem is that he does not have a lot of early pace, so his chances always depend on whether he gets a reasonably clear run.
"He still has a lot to learn about relaxing in the kennels when he gets to the track, so being in the third event, an early race, is a bonus.''
Fastest heat winner on February 12 was Promising, who began brilliantly from box two and led throughout in 30.22.
But Promising's prospects have nose-dived with the Ron Lambert-trained greyhound drawing poorly in box seven on Saturday night.
Promising was flattened while trying to cross to the rails from box seven, when in a prominent position, in two races at Gosford in August and September last year.
Nangar Kane's toughest rival looms as Zipping Junior, from the in-form Jason Magri kennel.
Zipping Junior staged a remarkable performance to win his heat in 30.34 after missing the jump from box six and being hampered slightly at the first turn.
After being fourth at the top of the straight, Zipping Junior flashed home between rivals to win by a nose.
Zipping Junior has drawn awkwardly in box five in the final but trainer Magri believes the dog can improve.
"Before his heat Zipping Junior had clocked fast time in a post-to-post slip at Wenty but he had not previously been out of the starting boxes,'' Magri pointed out.
"I usually like to give a young dog a run from the boxes before they race as I find they usually benefit from that.''
Kid Candle had box one when he went within a length of upsetting Feral Franky in the group 1 Vic Peters Classic at Wentworth Park in July and he will be back wearing the red rug in Saturday night's third Golden Easter Egg Prelude.
Kid Candle almost "stole'' the Vic Peters, leading until the top of the straight before finishing a close third to Feral Franky and Cawborne Marty.
Trainer Geoff Grimwood said: "The dog's latest form does not look too flash but he is going all right.
"I trialled Kid Candle over 515m at LADBROKES GARDENS last Friday and he went okay, I was satisfied with how he went.''
With a personal best 520m time of 29.86, Kid Candle is the quickest Wenty dog in Saturday's lineup.
Saturday night's best bet should be the Dennis Barnes-trained Bathurst Cup winner Nangar Diva, who beat a group class lineup in the $25,000 to the winner western districts event on February 7.
Nangar Diva made full use of her inside box two draw at Bathurst and has drawn box one in Saturday's second Golden Easter Egg Prelude.
Best Bet Nangar Diva (race 7)
Best Value Nangar Kane (race 3)
Quaddie race 5 - 7, 4, 3
Race 6 - 1, 7, 2
Race 7 - 1, 6
Race 8 - 1, 2, 7
$20 for 37.03%
