"He does own early pace and he ran up to his full potential to win his heat. I feel he will be racing for luck in the final," suggested Cole.
The known strong finisher Bigtime Bellis isn't renowned for her early pace, therefore it came as a surprise to see her leading her heat rivals into the first turn.
Bellis was never going to be caught from there, which saw her scampering through her task to clock 29.97s.
"She was fresh going into her heat, which helped her jump," advised Cole.
"She is as strong as a bull who will finish strongly. It will be interesting if she jumps like that again."
It was another pace-making heat win that Spare Some Time produced to win his heat in 30.03s.
He has been allocated the one trap to step away from this evening.
"He didn't use that trap in the NZ Derby and I feel he's better suited in the middle traps. He has to lead into the first turn," informed Cole.
Big Time Jason contested the final heat, where he gamely chased the freewheeling Dave and Jean Fahey-prepared Vikings, finishing 4.5 lengths behind him.
"He's a consistent greyhound who does everything right. He has early speed which can see him getting onto the early pace," confirmed Cole.
"All five of our runners pulled up great and are all set for Friday."
The obvious danger to the Cole quintet is Vikings, especially after he flew through his heat assignment in a smart 29.90s.
He must place himself straight onto the early pace from the eight trap.
"He is a much stronger dog now," said Dave Fahey.
He has the ability, he has come through last week good and it now comes down to what happens to him going into the first turn."
