Ian Brindle (SL) provides an overview of the William Hill Greyhound Derby as Sky Sports commence their coverage at the third round stage.
The one certainty on Saturday is that we will see this year's Greyhound Derby winner but the puzzle is working out just which of the remaining 48 runners it will be.
From what had been one of the more prosaic renewals of the Derby, last Saturday saw the competition explode into life in a manner that exhausted every gamut of emotion.
Irish Derby winner, Ballymac Matt was to provide the first pivotal moment as he flew out of the traps to post a figure of 28.05 with Droopys Latina chasing behind.
Eliminated in the opening round last year, Kelly Macari's dog showed that run to be merely a bad day at the office and the bookmakers predictably dived for cover.
An even quicker time seemed likely in heat 15 as Lenson Panda thundered down the back straight to the vociferous encouragement of the crowd. Sickeningly, that joy was to be shortlived as the dog broke a hock, and in a further twist of fate, the well-fancied Jaytee Spartacus cannoned into the stricken runner and consigned himself to elimination.
Thankfully Lenny Ponder's dog has undergone a successful operation on the injury and will live to fight another day, but like Premier Fantasy some years before him, he exited the Derby with the irresolvable question of what might have been.
Connections were to gain a crumb of consolation as Lenson Sanchez took victory in the last of the second round heats but all eyes were fixed on what was going on some distance behind.
Badly baulked at the first turn, Jaytee Jet lost all momentum and found himself virtually off the track. A dozen lengths off the pace and in what seemed a futile pursuit; he stoically joined Badmoonrising on the line for a share of the final qualification slot and forced the Wimbledon officials to dig out their rulebooks.
With the withdrawal of Farloe Cody on Tuesday, a proposed run-off was not required and both runners deservedly took their places in the drum.
Eden The Kid propelled himself into ante-post favouritism for the Derby after his success on Thursday evening.
His running style may have altered since he reached the final last year but his liking for Wimbledon has not. Despite a couple of bumps up the run-in, he comfortably saw off Ballymac Brogan in a time of 28.24 and has looked imperious between the second and third bends.
He'll face a meeting on Saturday with Droopys Roddick. Pat Buckley's dog was able to dodge another banana skin draw last week after his next-door neighbour missed the kick. A noted competition performer, he is fancied to improve for a closer draw to the rail.
Nine Irish dogs have progressed to this stage and you'll do well to secure any bigger than 5/4 about an Irish-trained winner of the Derby.
Of those, Jaytee Dutch appeared unlikely to qualify, let alone win his second round heat, and the litter brother to Jaytee Jet has been the market buzzer over the last fortnight.
Available at 66/1 ahead of the competition, he was thought an unlikely participant having struggled to recover from a long-standing bacterial infection. Connections have taken their chances and the dog has shown plenty of guile in his two unbeaten starts so far. With a fair draw in the third round, the Paul Hennessy-trained runner is as low as 8/1 in the outright market.
The stats suggest that the fairer sex don't win Derbys but Domino Storm is giving it a jolly good crack.
The Oaks winner is one of the most popular greyhounds in training and Mark Wallis's bitch produced another robust display of front-running to secure her place in the third round.
And so to the point, where for many aficionados, the real "Derby" gets underway.
Three will progress from each of Saturday's heats into Tuesday's quarter-finals and with the schedule of three runs inside a week, the attributes of stamina and strength begin to assume much more relevance in the quest for a place on Finals night.
Good luck with all of your selections and here are mine for each of the eight heats:
7.11 T5 Ballymac Brogan
7.26 T3 Droopys Latina
7.43 T1 Ballymac Matt (NAP)
7.59 T3 Southfield Jock
8.16 T3 Kentish Duke
8.33 T3 Peregrine Falcon
8.51 T4 Eden The Kid
9.08 T6 Boyneside Fun (NB)