Crack Northern Rivers trainer Frank Hancock has had greyhounds for 37 years but will visit Wentworth Park for the first time when he rugs up Lady Jasmin and Battistuzzi on Saturday night.
Rated by many as the best sprinters in their district, Lady Jasmin has box one in the second Sportingbet Paws Of Thunder Prelude while her kennelmate has drawn two in the first Prelude.
Frank Hancock and wife Edith make no secret of disliking the long drive to Sydney and they continually dodged the NSW metropolitan track with their former champion sprinter Pretty Malaika.
"I’m probably only coming down this time because my mate Bobby Cooke, who lives near me, was making the trip so we are driving together," Frank said.
"Bobby has Watta Jackpot and Cash Will Do in at the meeting so we thought we’d keep each other company.
"Lady Jasmin is a bit faster than Battistuzzi and she is ideally drawn.
"She has good early speed and rails well.
"Battistuzzi will be hard to beat too but he is inclined to get off the track a little so box two is not perfect.
"And he is not as quick from the boxes as Lady Jasmin but if the three dog, Woods, leads and clears Battistuzzi early, my greyhound has a strong chance.
"Neither of my greyhounds has trialled at Wentworth Park so they are going into their races cold."
Battistuzzi has scored nine wins from 18 starts while his litter sister Lady Jasmin’s strike rate is an even more impressive 11 wins from 15 races.
There is not a better boxed greyhound on Saturday than Brooklyn Hope, who has drawn two in the Petsnacks Stakes.
Brooklyn Hope, a former New Zealander, is a fast beginner with good early speed and she has the luxury of having slow beginner Gee Eye Miagi in one and wide runners Unorthodox, Booze Hound and Lachlan Bomber in three, four and five respectively.
It is hard to imagine Brooklyn Hope being unable to lead all-the-way.
The new Dapto record holder Double Twist (pictured) chases her ninth win in 18 Wentworth Park starts in the Macro Meats Gourmet Stakes and while box seven does not seem good for this keen railer it is worth noting she has won each of her two races while wearing the black rug.
But Brooklyn Drive is ideally positioned in box eight and has a good chance of toppling Double Twist at big odds.
Brooklyn Drive wanted to move wide at the first turn after drawing box two last Saturday but she was still able to give the speedy What For a big start and a beating.
She goes up in class on Saturday but the box draw could prove a big leveller.
Brooklyn Drive’s trainer Kristy Sultana could land a double as Hidden Danger, while poorly drawn in box five in the Shane Rennie Sweet Dude Stakes, only needs a clear run to win.
Not many greyhounds have had so much bad luck at Wentworth Park as Hidden Danger who has been placed in four of her seven starts at the track and probably should have won three of them.
On Saturday Hidden Danger tackles lesser opposition than what she has lined up against in three outings over the past five weeks.
Best Bet: Hidden Danger (Race 3)
Best Value: Pettigo Pepper (Race 9)
Quaddie: Race 5 – 3, 5, 8
Race 6 – 2, 3, 4
Race 7 – 1, 4, 6
Race 8 – 8, 7
$20 for 37.03%
