Champion sprinter Wow has not raced for two months but is ready to notch his 20th win in 32 appearances when he steps out from box two in Saturday night's GOTY Awards June 27 Free-For-All at Wentworth Park.
"The dog is flying,'' trainer Danielle Matic said.
"I have just taken him to Melbourne for the qualifying trials of the Speed Star series and he clocked 29.21 over 515m at Sandown.
"That time was fast enough for Wow to qualify for the Speed Star final but then Victoria had another Covid scare and went into lockdown so I didn't want to risk taking him back to Melbourne.
"I want him to compete in the Brisbane winter carnival and knowing how strict Queensland is with their border closures, I decided against taking Wow back to Sandown for the Speed Star.''
Wow looks well drawn on Saturday night as with box three vacant, he should have room to move to the right as he tends to do in his races.
But Wow will need to do everything correctly as brilliant front-runners Bones McCoy and Coast Model have drawn boxes four and five respectively.
Bones McCoy has won three from five Wentworth Park outings with a personal best 520m time of 29.62 while Coast Model's seven wins from 15 Wenty appearances have yielded an identical quickest time.
Wow though he stopped the clock at 29.38 at Wentworth Park so has the equivalent of more than two lengths on his main dangers.
Kid Candle, winner of the 2020 group 2 Woy Woy Poultry Gold Cup at Gosford, makes his debut in "veteran'' category in Saturday night's Ladbrokes Switch Masters Stakes at Wentworth Park.
Because Kid Candle has not raced since October 20 the dog had to qualify with a clearance trial and he clocked moderate time of 30.03 over 515m at LADBROKES GARDENS last Friday.
"I was satisfied with that run because Kid Candle was having his first hit-out beyond 500m in seven months,'' trainer Geoff Grimwood said.
"He put on a lot of weight while he was sidelined with a few little injuries and he is going okay without setting the world on fire.
"But he has a good draw and if he jumps cleanly Kid Candle should be in the race with a winning chance.''
At his only subsequent outing three nights later Run Juju Run was a solid finishing third to Vivarchi over 515m at Gosford when he bungled the start and came from last on the back straight.
Impress Shades, a lucky acquisition for Hunter Valley trainer Daniel Flanagan, could win first-up at WP in Saturday night's Where Else But Wenty Stakes.
Impress Shades won four of 21 Victorian starts before coming to NSW last month and has since won each of two races in brilliant fashion over 450m at Maitland.
Trainer Daniel Flanagan said: "Impress Shades was supposed to go into the kennels of leading trainer Jason Mackay but when Jason found he had too many dogs and no space for the newcomer, he suggested to the owners that they let me train him.
"Impress Shades has won in the fastest time of the meeting at his two Maitland races and he knows his way around Wenty.
"I gave him a post-to-post trial there a few weeks ago and Impress Shades clocked a handy 24.50, running home nicely.''
Impress Shades has won from boxes eight and five at Maitland so should be able to handle his box six draw at Wentworth Park.
Hardest to beat looms as Bruce Mick Glenn, who is chasing his fifth successive win after scoring over 400m at LADBROKES GARDENS and Maitland and posting a handy 29.70 winning over 515m at The Gardens at his most recent outing on April 30.
