Good Odds Emma and Good Odds Cash are poised to give trainer Frank Hurst two finalists in the Ladbrokes NSW Sprint Championship after drawing suitably in their heats at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
The $10,000 to the winner final will be held on Thursday with the National Championship Final, worth $75,000 to the winner, featuring qualifiers from around Australia and NEW ZEALAND, at Wentworth Park on August 27.
Good Odds Emma (pictured) has box two in heat one on Saturday night while Good Odds Cash has drawn three in heat two.
Hurst believes Good Odds Emma will relish having an empty box on her right.
"She goes fairly straight when she leaves the boxes but she does get off the track a little so box three being empty should give her plenty of confidence,'' Hurst said.
Good Odds Cash takes on Coast Model in Saturday night's Championship heat but if she is chasing that greyhound her trainer would be more confident of victory.
"There's no question that Good Odds Cash is a faster bitch than Good Odds Emma,'' the Londonderry trainer said.
Most of Saturday's Sprint Championship contestants will reach Thursday night's NSW state final as the first four in each of the heats, which have drawn a total of just 13 greyhounds, will qualify.
Mickey Doo was second at the first turn but got wide and lost ground before finishing strongly.
Good Odds Cash's major opponent looks to be Coast Model, who boasts the outstanding Wentworth Park record of 15 wins from 38 starts.
Coast Model has box six and while she is better suited from an inside draw, her near foolproof box manners and early brilliance can usually enable her to get across her rivals and be up near the lead at the first turn.
The surprise in heat two could be the baby of the field, Simply Limelight, who is just 26 months old and has had only 17 races.
Simply Limelight's best Wentworth Park time of 29.70 is wide of Good Odds Cash's 29.53 and Coast Model's 29.58 but the Peter Rodgers-trained dog has clocked near record figures in a post-to-post hand-slip at Wentworth Park.
Punters could get off to a good value start at Wentworth Park on Saturday with Surprise Baby, who drops in class when she contests the fifth grade 520m NSW GBOTA Welcome Stakes.
Surprise Baby has won five races Wentworth Park but has competed in higher than fifth grade events at each of her 14 Wenty appearances since October.
Trainer Leo Vanderburg said: "She has box six and I'm just glad she has finally drawn wide at WP.
"Surprise Baby ia going as well as ever, I can't fault her at the moment.
"She clocked moderate time when she won a heat over 401m at Richmond on July 22 but she is better suited over the 520m of Saturday's race.
"And forget she went around in the Richmond 401m final on July 29 because she had box one and lost all chance when she went up with the lids.''
Saturday's top grade 720m event is a dress rehearsal for Thursday night's NSW Distance Championship, featuring the top candidates Super Estrella (box four), Cawbourne Magic (box seven) and Tiger Jack (box eight).
