"I had to do plenty of weaving and ducking to get through the flooded roads and reach the track but it was worth it,'' exclaimed trainer Ashley Dwyer after he trained two of the three winners in Friday night's Ladbrokes Bidgee Wagga Cup heats.
Dwyer's Special Blend, a son of his brood bitch Osti Influence, clocked fastest time of the night in covering the 525m in 30.15 with that dog's litter brother and kennelmate Charlie's Jar scoring in 30.33.
Vayda Bale, trained in Victoria by Samantha Grenfell, was the other heat winner, clocking 30.19.
"I am in the process of establishing a set-up at Bethungra (24km south-west of Cootamundra) which is around 50 minutes from Wagga but the rain and floods made it a tricky drive getting to the track on Friday,'' Dwyer said.
"But both the dogs won and I am ecstatic about their draws in next week's final, with Special Blend coming up with box two and Charlie's Jar in three.
"Only downside for me was missing the big $31 odds offered about Charlie's Jar who tumbled into $10.
"That was still a good price but I got dirty about missing the longer odds so wouldn't back him.
"I thought the $2.70 bet about Special Blend was his right price.
"Their mother Osti Influence has another litter, sired by Superior Panama, which are 10 months old, while she has just been mated with Tommy Shelby, winner of the 2021 Golden Easter Egg.''
It's not surprising Dwyer is pleased with the final box draw as Special Blend has won five of his 10 starts from box two while Charlie's Jar's record from box three is equally imposing, standing at three wins from five appearances.
Friday night's final will carry record prizemoney of $25,000 to the winner.
ANOTHER regular visitor to Wentworth Park with two finalists at Wagga on Friday night is Michael Clayton, who has Start Packing in box one and Aqua Tiger in five.
Start Packing was second throughtout when beaten just over a length by Vayda Bale in her heat while Aqua Tiger made the pace before finishing third to Special Blend, beaten four lengths.
"I'm confident my pair will improve because the only time they had seen Wagga before the heats was for a box-to-box trial each,'' Clayton said.
"At Wentworth Park Start Packing moves to the right when she leaves the 520m starting point but at Wagga the boxes are positioned further away from the running rail so I'm certain she will run straight to the first corner.
"Start Packing is chasing better than ever because previously, if she had been behind the pacemaker early, she might have dropped back but she knuckled down and held on to Vayda Bale who had gone to the front.
"If she leads Vayda Bale on Sunday I doubt she will get run down, although if Vayda Bale sets the pace we probably beat her either.
"Aqua Tiger will struggle from box five in the final because while he has terrific early pace and is a fierce chaser, it's a pity he is not a couple of lengths stronger at the finish.
"Ashley Dwyer's fastest qualifier Special Blend is well boxed in two and will be hard to beat, but he is probably going to have to thread his way through the field.''
