Wentworth Park races preview, best bets & quaddie picks | 17/6/23

Best Bet: Zipping Digby (Race 5)

Jason Magri, one of NSW's best trainers, will rug up this son of Zipping Garth and Zipping Mitzy for the Hallinans in the staying race. He has always looked like the staying caper would be to his liking, and since stepping up to the middle distance he is unbeaten at the 600m level. He dropped back to the 520m here two starts back and took forever to wind up but hit the line extremely hard. It will be his first look at the 720m trip but there is no question he should handle it. In his win last start, he was again only winding up late once he found the fence. The draw is a minor concern but he is four from four from the outside two boxes, and with a slow beginner drawn outside of him he might land extremely handy early in this race, if not in front. He often goes around very short and has only been above the $3 twice in his 18-race career. This race will probably be no different, although there might be some people looking to take him on in his staying debut.

Danger: Zipping Vanessa
Trained by the legend John Finn and also owned by the Hallinans, she already has a 720m win here at headquarters. She broke the 42-second mark in that run, which is a feat for a young stayer, and looks like she has plenty of upside. She may, however, be giving Digby a head start in this race, in which case she probably won't be running past him.

Next Best: Tokyo Drift (Race 11)

Lynne Aldous brings her exciting young chaser back to Wentworth Park for only the third time in his career. Since his three-month layoff at the start of the year, this boy has bounced back like the very good dog he always promised to be. He has won four of his five starts since coming back, with the only miss a narrow second to King Of Tulsa in the heats of a quality race at Bulli in which he blitzed the final field. He is equally well adapted to any box, and his record of 10 wins and four placings from 16 starts shows exactly why. He is five from six from the inside two boxes and has only had the red rug once for a win. Major Ando, who is drawn outside of him, is only a moderate beginner, so Tokyo Drift should get the room he needs early to race to the front and leave them in his paw prints.

Danger: Ferocious Amigo
We tipped him in the one-off Saturday night metropolitan meeting at Newcastle last month and he saluted like a good thing. He then stepped up to the middle distance at Dapto and didn't really finish it off after handing it to Zipping Digby for the first 200m. He has had a month off since that run, so not sure if there was a problem, but fresh and ready to fire, expect a big showing from this boy off the outside box.

Best Value: Street Of Dreams (Race 7)

She's A Pearl is an absolute champion, but her prohibitive odds in this race mean there is value elsewhere. Street Of Dreams went to Gunnedah for the Listed Chief Havoc series and, after learning the track in the heats, blitzed a good field while giving dogs like Red Hot Frankie a start and a thrashing. He is probably the most powerful finishing greyhound over the 500m distance in training, but that comes with its own disadvantages – especially around this tight Glebe circuit. He will need a touch of luck to get a clear shot at the champ, and he will also need her to run a touch slower than 29.5 seeing as he'll be coming from behind. However, at the $9 price, he is definitely worth a ticket.