Many expect that Aston Rupee will be first home in the Group 1 Ladbrokes Paws of Thunder Final on January 22, but first of all he will have to be the last to qualify for that $75,000 final having drawn the last heat of the night this Saturday.
Eight heats of the Paws Of Thunder were drawn on Wednesday, with the winners only advancing to the final the following Saturday.
“They are good quality aren’t they,” Aston Rupee’s trainer Glenn Rounds said after drawing box three in the eighth heat. “Some really good dogs and some very strong heats.”
Aston Rupee is not only the clear outright favourite for the Paws Of Thunder, he is considered by many the best dog in country with victory in 20 of his 35 starts including last year’s Group 1 Topgun Final, and a handful of flying times at various tracks.
He visited Wentworth Park last Wednesday for a look around and posted 29.40s running home in 11.63s.
“He’s had a very good week,” Rounds said. “He pulled up very well, and when we got him home everything was fine, and he’s ready to go back on Saturday and do his stuff.
“He just needs to nail the start and put himself right into it before the corner.”
The differences between starting boxes in NSW and Victoria has often taken some getting used to for dogs visiting from the other State, and having that first look at Wentworth Park will undoubtedly be a benefit to Aston Rupee who clocked just 5.48s to the first mark in his trial.
“Yeah of course. I’m sure it will help. We were never going to bring him up blind. He handled it very well, and we were happy with him. He loves the two corners, and finishes off really strongly. His last section is very strong.
“The dog’s got a big year hopefully coming up this year, with after this series, an Easter Egg, then the (two) Million Dollar (Chase) races, so it was important to get a good trial there into him.
“He’s got to stay together though and there is a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and then.”
Like he did last week, and as he has done regularly when bringing dogs from Victoria to race in Sydney, Rounds will break up the trip on Saturday, stopping at accommodation in Goulburn for a few hours before heading to Wentworth Park, and then doing likewise on the way home.
“I’ve always done it that way over the years - stayed at Goulburn - with other dogs. It’s worked well so I reckon it’s a good set up, and I know my stops, where I’m stopping, so there’s no need to change that, and he (Aston Rupee) travelled a treat last week.”
Second favourite for the Paws Of Thunder, the JODIE Lord-trained Bandit Ned, will be a short quote to advance to the final after drawing box one in heat two of the event.
Silver Chief winner, the Andrea Dailly-trained Zippy Tesla (box 4) will line up against Wow (box 2) and Golden Easter Egg finalist Devel Sixteen (box 3) in heat four.
Last week’s Gosford Cup winner Zipping Kyrgios has drawn box 3 in heat five, and will meet Anthony Azzopardi’s Casino Cup winner Aston Titan (box 8), a winner of his past five starts, along with the promising Connections (box 7) trained by Darryl Thomas.
Jack Smith’s Jungle Deuce has drawn well in box 3 in heat 6, fresh from winning last week’s Group 2 Golden Sands at Albion Park over the 600m.
And Jason Magri has come up with box 8 for the in-form Zipping Kansas who has clocked 29.46s and 29.40s in winning his past two Wentworth Park starts before breaking the Dapto track record with a 29.26s solo trial on Monday morning.
Two heats of the Group 2 Summer Distance Plate will also be staged on Saturday night with Stanley Road to be strongly fancied in heat one, with Cool Bourbski and Victorian Mepunga Ruby the two leading candidates in heat two.
Full fields for the Ladbrokes Paws Of Thunder heats and the Summer Distance Plate, can be found here.
