Charmaine Roberts will be unafraid to poke the bear at Saturday’s Paws of Thunder Final (520 metres) at Wentworth Park.
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The Dubbo trainer won last Saturday’s heat with Caitlyn Keeping in a lightning-fast 29.84 seconds, but will have to be at her best to beat $2.25 favourite Poke The Bear.
The Seona Thompson-trained dog clocked a blistering 29.55 seconds in his heat - 0.01 seconds faster than the 520m race record set by Iona Seven in the 2014 final.
Dubbo Greyhound Racing Club president, and Roberts’ partner, Shayne Stiff said she would be representing the Central West and “hopefully try and bring home the bacon”.
"In her heat Caitlyn Keeping jumped smartly from box five and recorded a first split of 5.44 so if she [can repeat] that she should lead early,'' Stiff told thedogs.com.au.
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"Her problem is that while she was formerly a foolproof beginner, she now only comes out running in six out of 10 starts.
"So Caitlyn Keeping is going to have to be on her best behaviour when the boxes lift on Saturday night.
"Of course if Miss Splendamiro or Poke The Bear is sitting just behind Caitlyn Keeping on the back straight they will beat her because our bitch can't go any quicker than 29.80 and they can both go much faster.
"Poke The Bear's effort to give a powerful dog like Buck's Future a big start and a beating in his heat was awesome, but if he misses the jump from box eight I think he could be in bother in the final.''
Caitlyn Keeping ($6) will jump from box four while Miss Splendamiro ($3) has drawn box six.
