Two $11,000 New Zealand Racing Series (NZRS) finals for Kiwi-bred greyhounds, over 520m and 755m, will be contested at tonight's meeting at Hatrick Raceway.
As in all NZRS finals, half of the stake money earned by all placed runners is reserved for their breeders.
The stayers are first in action(Race 8, 7.45pm) where the Karen Walsh-trained Thrilling Logic will be strongly favoured to add this title to the similar one he stylishly claimed over 747m at Cambridge on New Year's Day.
A repeat of that potent 6.75 length gallop will make him awfully tough to defeat here.
The biggest challenge to Thrilling Logic is likely to emerge from Jinja Power who travels up from the Dave and Jean Fahey kennels. She is a proven stayer at the top level.
The major concern for her tonight is drawing out in trap seven. She displays distinct railing tendencies.
It required two heats to decide the finalists for the $11,000 520m NZRS Advanced event.
Clocking the quickest time was the Lisa Ahern-prepared Rene Ranger, who raced handy to the pace throughout to deliver his half-length heat win in 30.49 seconds.
His on-pace racing style is an essential tactic that he must adopt after beginning from trap eight.
Opawa Casper was the other heat winner for his Canterbury trainers Robin Wales and Josh Lane.
He extended nicely to notch his three-length heat win, clocking 30.52 seconds in doing so.
The northern Steve Clark-trained Blitzing Mayhem has drawn nicely in trap two after encountering interference in his heat. It is best to ignore his fourth placing.
Gary Cleeve makes the trek from the South Island with his pair of proven chasers Know Class and Know Attempt who are both renowned for their strong finishing bursts.
