Baby Jaycee's courage, combined with her keenness and speed, could pave the way for her to become the 10th Victorian-trained greyhound in the past 13 years to win the Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg.
Baby Jaycee, who ran down Wyndra All Class and then easily held off Ritza Donna to win her semi-final last Saturday night in 29.59, has drawn ideally in box one in Saturday's $300,000 to the winner Wentworth Park decider.
Trainer Peter Rodgers said: "I didn't want box one with him, not at Wentworth Park, and was hoping for two or three so I'm happy.''
Country trainer Jack Smith has won two of the past three finals and is upbeat about the prospects of his dog Palawa King in Saturday night's $40,000 to the winner Gartelmann Wines New Sensation.
Palawa King has a great draw in box one, especially as Go Bears, box two, tends to move away from the rails in the run to the first turn.
Smith's dog Jungle Deuce set a New Sensation race record of 29.31 when he won the 2021 final, two years after kennelmate Feral Franky was successful in 29.87.
"Box one gives Palawa King a chance because in his previous five starts he has drawn six, seven and eight yet still been able to finish second four times,'' Smith said.
"Gozo King ran a first split of 5.39 when he won his heat so if he repeats that he will be hard to beat but a lot of Palawa King's opponents probably need to lead to win.
"There is a lot of pace in this race and while Palawa King is so strong he doesn't need to lead, he still has to catch them.''
Australia's top stayer Cawbourne Magic goes into Saturday night's Group 1 Farrell's Association Cup as easily fastest qualifier but Ritza Piper, who chased him home in his heat, has a far better draw.
Cawbourne Magic has box seven and has to contend with kennelmate Silver Luck, who has good early pace and is a keen railer, in box eight.
"I might need to have a word with Silver Luck to tell him not to interfere with his kennelmate,'' trainer Andy Lord quipped.
In last week's heats Cawbourne Magic ran down Ritza Piper to win in 41.60 but the Joe Scerri-trained bitch's time for the 720m of 41.80 was second quickest of the eight finalists.
Ritza Piper was beaten for the early lead by Nangar Rocket last week but is drawn to go straight to the front in the final.
Fastest heat winner Cumbria Kid is drawn to win Saturday night's $25,000 for first Ausure Ultra Sense final.
Cumbria Kid had box three when he clocked 29.73 in his heat and has box two on Saturday night.
Rivello, in box three, is an extremely wide runner so Cumbria Kid should get the run of the race.
"I wanted an inside box with him and hopefully he will either be in front on the first turn or sitting behind Subby's dog (Oro Rojo, trained by Subawa Ngurah) around that corner,'' trainer Steve Fitch said.
"Cumbria Kid is in a rich vein of form, he has had three wins and three seconds from his past six starts and like dogs usually do when they are going so well, he is pulling up perfectly after each race.''
Saturday's Group 3 Ladbrokes Magic Maiden looks a match between Zipping Rousey (box three) and One Hot Bandit (box eight) who shared fastest qualifying times of 29.68.
Zipping Rousey's 5.49 was the quickest first split but One Hot Bandit ran home in a powerful 11.67.
Minnie Finn, whose husband John Finn trains Zipping Rousey, said: "She has had several trials at Wenty and has so far been a very reliable beginner.''
But the draw favours One Hot Bandit, who won his heat from box eight and has the same draw in the final.
Kimba Neo, who led throughout but crossed to the rails from box seven in her heat, will wear the black rug again and could give One Hot Bandit a clear passage from the start to the first bend.
