Boom Grafton greyhound Baroque Knight has trialled well enough at Wentworth Park to indicate he can overcome box four when he makes his Sydney debut in Saturday night's second Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg Prelude.
Baroque Knight, who has won 10 of 17 starts on provincial and country tracks, is just 23 months old and trainer Stephen Keep has a high opinion of the youngster.
"He went beyond 450m for the first time when I took him to LADBROKES GARDENS for a 515m fourth and fifth grade on January 30 and he won in 29.84, fastest time of the meeting,'' Keep said.
"Baroque Knight had jumped fairly well but had to bullock his way into second place at the first turn and took the lead entering the back straight.
"I brought him to Wenty Park on Tuesday, February 9, and he clocked 24.39 in a post-to-post hand-slip, running home in a smart 11.81.
"When he won over 420m at Lismore on January 25 Baroque Knight clocked 23.60, just .08sec outside the track record.
"And what was especially encouraging was his run home time of 13.99.
"It is rare for a dog to break 14sec running home at Lismore and when Tony Brett's dog Fast Times set the course record his run home was 13.98.
"Baroque Knight is a fairly reliable beginner and generally races a couple of dogs off the fence.''
Super Road was not the fastest winner of the GBOTA Maiden heats at Wentworth Park on February 10 but the newcomer was particularly impressive, having to push between rivals to hit the front approaching the first turn and then coming away to win by four lengths.
She covered the 520m in 30.40 while Icelandic Prince set the time standard by winning the other heat in 30.29.
Super Road had box four in her heat and while trainer Mark Gatt is not concerned at how his bitch will handle her outside draw, he is worried about whether she can get around the greyhounds in boxes six and seven.
"Zipping Freeman, who has six, and Mum's Parking, who has drawn seven, are wide runners so Super Road is going to have to come out quickly to get past them,'' Gatt said.
Fire On Ice will be favoured to notch her seventh Wentworth Park win in Saturday night's Oliver Hoare, You Legend Stakes, a 520m fourth and fifth grade, but could meet stern opposition from Queensland-trained It's A Rush.
Fire On Ice, who has clocked 29.64 at Wentworth Park, led throughout to win by six lengths in a slick 29.92 last Saturday when It's A Rush overcame a poor getaway from box eight to win in 29.88.
Justin Bowe, who co-trains It's A Rush with his uncle Gerard Bowe, said: "It's A Rush had not been out of the Wentworth Park boxes before last week but had clocked 24.30 in a post-to-post hand-slip.
"He missed the jump from box eight last Saturday but is capable of coming out a lot better than that and is better suited drawn nearer the rails.
"We brought him to Wentworth Park because experienced Queensland trainers assured us that because It's A Rush goes really well at Ipswich he would be suited by Wenty.
"It's A Rush likes the flat Ipswich circuit more than he does the cambered Albion Park, and Wentworth Park is also a flat type of course.''
Saturday's best bet should be Zipping Kyrgios, who has drawn box eight for the first time in the There's Only One Gerard Price Stakes, a 520m fifth grade.
Zipping Kyrgios has won at Wentworth Park in 29.37 from box two, 29.85 from box one and 29.75 from six, but Melinda Finn, whose husband John trains the exciting youngster, has always contended she likes seeing their greyhound drawn on the outside.
