Taw General has been placed in five of his 11 Wentworth Park races but is drawn to score a well-earned initial city win in Sunday's NSW GBOTA Welcome Stakes, a 520m fifth grade.
Taw General has box three and trainer Andrew Rowe is delighted to see his dog drawn near the rails.
"The only time I can recall seeing him go around a rival was when he won over 400m from box eight at Bulli on December 7.
"But at Wenty he can't afford to look for rails runs when he draws wide so being in box three is a massive bonus.''
Taw General is the only greyhound in Sunday's race to have broken the 30sec barrier at WP, having clocked 29.95 when he finished second, from box four, behind Tarawi Ted on September 29.
Smart Fernando (pictured), who pulled off a long priced upset win in Wednesday night's top grade Free-For-All at WP, plummets into a fifth grade when he exits box two in Sunday's 520m Ladbrokes Easy Form Stakes.
Smart Fernando began better than usual on Wednesday and after trailing prolific WP winner Cop Magnet to the back straight, hit the front approaching the home turn and won in 30.18.
"He has beaten the grader and that was my plan in nominating him for both meetings,'' trainer Greg Sutherland said.
"Smart Fernando pulled up well after Wednesday's win and I was rapt to see him run down a good dog like Cop Magnet.
"When he is in the right frame of mind Smart Fernando seems to be able to do things like that, his only flaw being his bad habit of getting wide on the back straight at Wenty.
"He even did that again when he won on Wednesday night.
"I wasn't confident of him winning that race but even before that I was really looking forward to him contesting Sunday's much easier race.''
Cartel Master was unplaced from box five at WP on Wednesday but trainer Andrew Bell believes the dog can score his first city win in Sunday's Summer Is For Racing Stakes, a 520m fifth grade.
Cartel Master has been placed twice in five WP races but gets his chance from a suitable box three draw on Sunday.
"He needs the fence badly because he crashes to the left when the boxes open,'' Bell said.
"Cartel Master is a faster dog than people realise and is capable of getting down to 30sec flat at WP.''
Bell said Cop Magnet, who made the pace when third to Smart Fernando and Wicked Flash at WP on Wednesday, is an unlikely starter in Sunday's 520m Free-For-All.
"He was a bit flat on Thursday morning so I will recommend to the dog's owners that he have a rest,'' Bell said.
"The group 1 Paws Of Thunder heats are coming up shortly so I think it's time for Cop Magnet to be freshened up for that series.''
Sunday's best bet should be Connections, who has box one in the 520m Ladbroke It! Stakes, a fifth grade.
The Darryl Thomas-trained speedster led throughout for a six lengths win in a fast 29.83 at WP on December 18, taking his record to eight wins from nine races.
Connections has not been tested from box one but railed superbly in his box two win last Saturday.
