Will the best greyhound win the National Championship?

The final of greyhound racing’s National Sprint and Distance Championship is rapidly approaching, with the final to be run at Wentworth Park on Saturday, August 22.

The best sprinter in Australia, Fernando Bale, has already booked his spot in the final, where he will try emulate his Derby, Easter Egg and Peter Mosman Classic successes.

The Nationals have never quite felt right in the greyhound calendar, with races such as the Melbourne Cup, Golden Easter Egg and Sandown Cup having greater prestige. The final alternates between states each year, and often qualifiers from the home state have a huge advantage.

The Nationals should differentiate itself by racing on larger tracks. Make the race about finding the fastest greyhound by taking the final to tracks like Bulli, Hobart and Ballarat.

Greyhounds that excel on the bigger tracks tend to have better records at stud than the smaller tracks such as the Meadows and Wentworth Park. The race could then differentiate itself from the other big races on the calendar, in what is a fairly quiet period in racing in general.

Back to this year’s renewal. Some of the finalists have already been decided, with Margins taking out the Victorian State final. In a result perhaps more surprising than the cricket on the same evening, Fernando Bale only managed to run third.

However, the highest-ranking greyhound in the land makes it through to the final, so both Fernando Bale and Margins will progress to Sydney.

No such problems for the nation’s highest-ranked stayer, with reigning champion Sweet It Is taking the Victorian distance final to progress with Lady Toy. The replay of that race is really worth watching (Sweet It Is has the white rug).

The other two sprinters are Keybow from Queensland, and Alex’s Entity from South Australia, while the stayers Mullaway and Psychotic Gold progressed in their final. The remaining finals will be held during the week.

Traditionally, the home state has a big advantage in the race, with 46 per cent of sprint winners and 37per cent of distance winners coming from the home state, although in recent years it has been far less of an advantage. Saturday night’s state finals at Wenty Park are therefore likely to have a strong influence in the national finals.

The box draw for the distance final is completely upside-down. Lord Golec has drawn Box 1 but wants to be on the outside, and is likely to cause some difficulties for Magic Earner and others on his outside. I wouldn’t be surprised if Raramuri, drawn in Box 8, gets the run of the race. Keep an eye on the weather, as greyhounds like Lord Golec tend to improve when Wenty Park gets wet as the outside of the track becomes faster.

Smart Missile looks very difficult to beat after drawing Box 1 in the NSW sprint final. I fancy Bessy Boo will drop out the back and follow Smart Missile through, but I doubt he can run the leader down and will have to settle for second.

To win the National Sprint final though, they’ll have to beat Fernando Bale the next week, something that has only happened to the champ seven times in his 33-start career.