Wentworth Park preview & best bets | Wednesday, May 3

Best Bet: Quantifiable (Race 6)

Chris O'Brien trains NSW's unluckiest greyhound, Mortified, and looks to have another above-average chaser on his hands with Quantifiable. This daughter of Fernando Bale and Banjo Tifia has built a handy record of eight wins and six placings from 18 starts. She was forced to have a spell after breaking through here back in February in good time on a slow track and has come back with two best-of-night performances. She went to Sandown for an exhibition race, which shows that O'Brien may have bigger targets for this girl going forward. While she is drawn a touch awkwardly in box five, she is a reliably good beginner who may well make perfect use of this middle draw. If she can lead and cross down towards the fence, she will get great cover when the red dog runs up the track at the first turn. If there is trouble behind her, she may well gap this field on her return to Wenty.

Danger: Zipping Vanessa
She was our danger last week when she knocked off kennelmate Zipping Remus at healthy odds, but she did a few things wrong and ended up being well boxed out wide. She didn't handle the first turn well but proved too good in the end. Not sure the red rug is an advantage for her, but if she gets a clean shot at the leaders, she will run them down.

Next Best: Fahey's Magic (Race 11)

If this was a 520m race, this girl would be the $1.20 favourite. However, over the sprint distance she will need to be ready to fire first-up, but Jane Curruthers knows only too well what she is doing and will have Fahey's Magic primed for this race. She beat Yuko Girl in the Richmond Oaks heats in a flying time before getting skittled when trying to lead in the final. She does not often get a ton of luck in her races, which is highly concerning in a 290m race, but with some genuine speedsters in this race she just might need some. She has only missed a place twice in her career with 10 wins and five placings from 17 starts, and one of those misses was in the Richmond Oaks final. She has never had a go at the 290m here, but over the 520m she is three wins and two seconds from five starts. Box four is a worry – she has never had it before – but she is unbeaten from boxes three, six and seven. If she can begin and not find trouble, she may well salute in this race fresh and at nice odds.

Danger: Okey
Any dog that breaks 16 seconds is going alright, and his 15.85s win last week was superb and that was probably a tougher field than he meets in this. He is his best when drawn down near the fence and here he gets the red rug, where he is two wins and three placings from five starts. He has tremendous acceleration, and if he steps away with them again, he might use his box to make it two in a row at headquarters.

Best Value: She's Tempting (Race 4)

It's always worth noting when the Hallinans bring a dog to town. This girl has only had the three career starts and her debut was in the rich Easter maiden series, where she had no luck and ran fourth in her heat, which proves that the connections believe she has above-average ability. She was then taken to Richmond, where she was blistering early and just couldn't hold off the winner, and then home to Dubbo, where again she flew early to win well over 400m. Box eight is her box and she will use it well and zoom down the middle of the track early to lead and hopefully get some cover from behind. May not be the odds she would have been in the race she was drawn in on Saturday night, but any winner is a good winner and hopefully she still might be great value.

Best Roughie: Toxic Label (Race 10)

It's unusual that a greyhound with only two starts is drawn in a battlers' race; such is the case with Toxic Label. The son of Sennachie and Secretly Hot comes to town after competing in the heats and final of the very good Robert Smith Memorial maiden at The Gardens. He was good in his heat, doing everything right after finding trouble early to arrive right on the line. In the final he was burrowing through looking for inside runs at the first turn when he hit the rail and then bounced off into another runner, which ruined any chance he might have had. Box four is probably not a bad one for him; he doesn't really want to be hard against the fence, although he doesn't want the complete outside. He is a bit awkward early in his races, and a big, leggy dog who needs room and luck, but he will improve no end on what he does in this race and has far more upside than some of these. We are hoping he stays at nice juicy odds for the punters to have a go at.