Confidence in Victa Damian to qualify for National Derby Final
Victa Damian is not only a good chance of qualifying for the National Derby Final from his heat on Friday night, but South Australian trainers Lisa and Tony Rasmussen believe he could be destined for greatness.
The talented 23-month-old will start heat five from box five at Wentworth Park, and is a $3.80 winning chance with Ladbrokes because of the fine fashion in which he has started his career.
Victa Damian has six wins from nine starts and is unbeaten on six occasions at his home track of Angle Park, meaning his odds could be good value for punters.
He has won his past two starts, both at the Adelaide venue, and is fresh from an impressive 30.03-second performance over 530m on December 22.
And that's without mentioning the fact the young gun produced a stunning trial time of 29.57 seconds in Sydney last week.
Friday night's heat worth $10,600 will be over 520m at New South Wales' home of greyhound racing.
Due to his obvious talent, Lisa Rasmussen believes Victa Damian is the best chance of qualifying for the National Derby Final out of the three runners her operation will oversee across the heats.
“He's the best out of the three boys who we're taking over,” she told Australian Racing Greyhound.
“He trialed very well. He was off and gone before anyone else arrived.
“We were very happy with his trial. He went the quickest.”
Rasmussen is so impressed with Victa Damian's raw ability, she has plenty of faith he will line up as a finalist next Saturday despite the fact he will start from box five.
“If he can get through early he'll be off and gone. We're quietly confident with him,” she said.
“But if he misses kick, then he's going to have to work his way through.”
Victa Alby has won his past three in a row, and punters might find some value in his $12 winning odds going into the second Derby heat.
He has also looked good in his trials, but he will have to qualify for the final from box eight.
“We would've loved him to have drawn the other side of the track,” Rasmussen said of her chaser with five career victories from nine appearances.
“But he has won from box eight in his very limited career at this stage.
“There's a bit of pace in this field, so we're hoping he can follow that over.
“And he broke 30 on his trial, so we're pretty happy with him.”
Victa Tony might have felt a little intimidated by the bright lights of the historic Glebe venue last week.
But after drawing box two in the first heat, his $8.50 odds might offer good value for punters.
“When we trialed them last week he was the slowest. He wasn't bad, but Tony said he went around looking up at the skyscrapers,” Rasmussen said.
“Out of the three boys he is the slowest.
“But he was still worth taking over. He's got a little bit of ability, but he's pretty limited.
“He's probably drawn the best out of the three boys.”
Meanwhile, Victa Marli has also drawn well for Heat 2 of the National Futurity also at Wentworth Park on Friday night.
The 23-month-old bitch will start from box two with $3.90 winning odds.
“She's got a lot of early speed. She likes to get up the track a little bit,” Rasmussen said.
“Box two is OK for her, providing she can take one or two steps to the right.
“She usually runs about two or three off the fence the whole way.”
In an all-bitches race, Victa Marli won't want to let down her three brothers from the earlier Derby heats.
“She's not quite as strong as the boys in her litter,” Rasmussen said.
“But we still give her a good chance of hopefully running a place.”
And two-year-old bitch Queen Of Scotch likes outside lanes, as she showed with her box-eight win over 395m at Angle Park, saluting in 22.38 seconds on December 16.
She has drawn box seven for Heat 1 of the National Futurity.
“Queen Of Scotch has drawn very well. She was a very fast maiden winner,” Rasmussen said.
Since that maiden victory in her first career start on May 26 last year, it hasn't been smooth sailing for the young chaser with 11 wins from 24 races.
“At Angle Park, she had a bad fall (failing to finish on September 15),” Rasmussen said.
“She cracked her shoulder blade. So she hasn't quite come back as good.
“But she probably needs a run or two to be at her best.”
Victa Damian Odd's In National Derby Heat 5 At Wentworth Park
Race 5 – 
Victa Damian (5)
Form: 163411 | Career: 9: 6-0-1 | Trainer: Lisa Rasmussen