Greyhound racing can be a pretty simple game at times: combine a fast dog, in particular a dog with good early speed, with an inside draw and you’ve generally got a recipe for success.
When that dog happens to be Zelemar Fever (pictured) you can upgrade your prospects from "good thing" to "certainty".
With the advantage of the rails alley Zelemar Fever has every opportunity to continue a remarkable run of form despite meeting some top class opposition when she lines up in the Get A Group Going Free To All (530m) at Cannington on Saturday night.
With nine wins from her last 11 starts the Linda Britton-prepared sprinter has plundered WA’s sprinting ranks like a barbarian at the fall of Rome.
Last week she dispatched an under-strength Free To All field with ice cool ruthlessness despite the furnace-like conditions when she clocked 29.99 to score by over 14 lengths.
She has now broken the 30 second barrier on three occasions now, a feat last achieved by the mighty Miata during the period when she was setting a new record with virtually every run.
Zelemar Fever’s extraordinary form has undoubtedly been assisted by a favourable run of inside draws which has suited her racing style to the ground but, you can’t help but admire the flair with which she has gone about her business.
A pampered diva off the track, she’s an exciting front-runner on race night and is a wonderful character for the public to follow.
This weekend she faces a stellar array of adversaries as all the big guns of the local scene have come out in preparation for the upcoming Perth Cup series.
This will be the first time that Zelemar Fever, Dyna Nalin, Sveta Monelli and On Coin will all appear in the same race.
Dyna Nalin returns to the track for the first time since his somewhat surprising (but not overly surprising) victory in the Sale Cup on Boxing Day.
The triple Group 1 winner is being set for a defence of his Perth Cup crown so the main aim from trainer Paul Stuart’s perspective is that he goes around safely.
Not to say that he won’t be out to win and even though he jumps from the pink here he’s the sort of dog that can win from any position on the grid if he’s allowed to unleash his turbo charged motor.
Sveta Monelli might provide the conditions for Dyna Nalin to make a challenge if she can give Zelemar Fever grief in the initial stages.
As she showed in their clash in the Anniversary Cup last month Sveta Monelli has the early toe to match it Zelemar Fever, and from box three she is huge chance to lead into the first turn.
Whether she can hold a lead against these greyhounds is another matter but she can be prominent if she lands on the bunny.
Despite being a superb chaser in his own right, On Coin finds himself as the forgotten dog of the race.
He almost never runs a bad race but he’s conceding the inside to two brilliant speedsters and he’ll also have to find a way to hold out Dyna Nalin.
There are plenty of impressive race dogs in the Britton kennel at the moment with quality youngsters such as High Recall and Gone To Heaven coming through.
High Recall looks tough to topple in the Jumping January Grade 5 over 530m (race one).
Since collecting her maiden in early December High Recall has reeled off five wins from six starts.
The only blip was when she dipped her toe in at Mandurah and found herself in a whole heap of trouble.
She looks above average and even though she steps up to city class here she should return to the winner’s circle here.
With seven wins from as many starts Gone To Heaven has an even better record and she boasts a slick personal best of 30.23.
She encounters her sternest test in the 530m Canning Series (race eight) against a handy field that includes the in-form Cosmic Rambo and Bluey’s Fate but I predict she’ll remain undefeated.
Best Best: Gone To Heaven (Race 8)
Best Value: On Coin (Race 4)
Quaddie: Race 5 – 1, 4
Race 6 – 2, 3
Race 7 – 1, 2, 3, 7
Race 8 – 1, 3
$20 for 62.5%
