Lennytheshark is set to start a hot favourite for Sunday's Inter Dominion Final even after a shock last-round defeat.
The Victorian pacer was forced to settle for second in his final heat of the series at Gloucester Park in Perth on Friday night but that disappointment was offset by hisnear perfect draw for the A$1.3 million final.
Lennytheshark drew ideally at barrier three, from where he cannot only use his gate speed to be handy or lead, but has a huge tactical advantage over key rivals Philadelphia Man (4) and Devendra (8).
Lennytheshark and Philadelphia Man were both beaten into second in Friday night's heats but looked tired after the three runs in a week and should bounce back with nine days from those runs to the final.
But the barrier draw is the main reason Lennytheshark will be close to an odds-on favourite.
Had Devendra or Philadelphia Man drawn inside him and led they would have been awfully hard to beat but Lennytheshark's driver Chris Alford should now have the option to stay in front of them if he wants and that could be crucial around Gloucester Park.
One of the big movers in the series, former New Zealand pacer Lovers Delight, holds the early key to the race as he has drawn the ace and has high gate speed so the question many punters will be asking is will veteran driver Chris Lewis opt to stay in front or hand that role to Lennytheshark?
That could be the deciding factor in the second richest pacing race held in Australasia, at 8.50pm (NZT) on Sunday.
