Ladbrokes Paws Of Thunder (G1)

Wow Set To Add Another Group 1 To His Record

By Jeff Collerson
As a 2018 whelping Wow is clearly the veteran of the field but he is racing as well as ever and is boxed to win Saturday night's group 1 Ladbrokes Paws Of Thunder at Wentworth Park.

Wow produced a stellar performance to win his heat last week for Danielle Matic, who has been training the crack sprinter since midway through 2021.

Last Saturday Wow, who had box two, shifted wide on the first turn and got onto the heels of pacemaker Zulu Warlord, becoming completely unbalanced.

But like the tenacious chaser he is, Wow recovered and surged to the lead on the back straight before racing away for an easy win in 29.71.


Trainer Danielle Matic's mother Ruth said: "Wow pulled up well and after studying the draw I don't think he is too badly placed in box five.

"I'm glad Bandit Ned is drawn outside Wow because that dog gets so far off the track on the back straight, until I watched his replay I had not realised he got so wide.''

Bandit Ned had box one when he won his heat in 29.70 but trainer Jodie Lord prefers her dog positioned towards the outside and is happy with his box six draw on Saturday night.

"He is drawn almost perfectly because he has always been at his best from boxes six, seven or eight, I didn't really want him in box one again,'' Lord said.

"Before his heat Bandit Ned had been at home for nearly a month so I expect him to improve on last week's performance.''

Jason Magri, whose dog Where's Rocky upset Zipping Kyrgios in the slowest of the Thunder heats, concedes his dog faces a mammoth task from box seven.

"Actually I think Wow is nearly a good thing to win it, I reckon he is well drawn.'' Magri said.

Do It had box three and led throughout to post fastest time of 29.59 in his Thunder heat and seems well positioned in box two, despite having won only two of 10 races from that draw.

Jack Smith, the only trainer with two finalists in the Paws Of Thunder, ranks Jungle Deuce (box four) ahead of kennelmate Irinka Riley (box three).

"Jungle Deuce has a bit of class about him but if he is to win he is going to have to beat Irinka Riley out of the boxes,'' Smith said.

"Jungle Deuce brought his worst box manners with him when he won his heat but it didn't matter because he had only four opponents.

"But he can't afford to do that again in a full field on Saturday.

"Irinka Riley usually jumps slowly so I'm hoping Jungle Deuce can be up there early, although dogs like Wow and Bandit Ned are always terribly hard to run down.''


Jason Magri may believe Where's Rocky has a hard job ahead in the Paws Of Thunder but is upbeat about the prospects of his National Derby finalist Persuasive on Saturday night.

"He has box six but if he comes out like he did when he won his heat Persuasive should be able to get to the first turn close to the lead,'' Magri said.

"There is not a lot of pace inside him and he pulled up beautifully after his heat win when he got ankle tapped by another dog as he crossed to the front at the first corner.''

Victorian trainer Peter Presutto has litter sisters Idolize and Chic in Saturday's group 1 Ladbrokes National Futurity final and says there is nothing between his pair.

"Over 450m Idolize would be a bit quicker but over 520m Chic might be a little stronger,'' Presutto said.

"Going into this series I thought Yuko Girl was the greyhound to beat so was pleasantly surprised when Chic, who had not seen Wenty before, beat her comfortably in their heat.

"Idolize did not show as much early speed in her heat as she did when I trialled her but she is raring to go and my pair are both boxed okay, with Idolize in three and Chic in seven.''

While she will be having only her 10th start and is the most inexperienced Futurity finalist, Yuko Girl's record of seven wins and two seconds speaks for itself and if she can beat Coco Model to the first turn she can win.

The Sam Sultana-trained Yuko Girl is unbeaten in two starts from box two, her draw on Saturday night, while Coco Model has not been successful in three appearances wearing the red rug.

Untapped, fastest qualifier for Saturday night's group 2 GBOTA Summer Distance Plate over 720m has been "kept fresh" by trainer Dustin Drew since her all-the-way heat win in 42.24.

"They tell me her first two heat splits of 16.03 and 29.51 were sensational so I want her to go straight to the front again,'' Drew said.

"I'm fortunate as there is a beach virtually next door to my kennels so this week Untapped has done a bit of swimming, splashing around in the salt water, and trotting along the sand.''

Best Bet Wow (race 8)

Best Value Persuasive (race 4)

Quaddie race 5 - 2, 3, 7

Race 6 -  1, 2

Race 7 - 2, 5

Race 8 - 5, 4, 6, 2

$20 for 41.66%