Maffra trainer Des Douch could well be unveiling two future stars at The Meadows on Saturday night in Three Wishes and Here Comes Pie.
Douch will produce the lightly-raced duo in Grade 5 heats, with Three Wishes ideally drawn in Box 1 in the second heat (Race 4 at 7.42pm), while Here Comes Pie has to contend with Box 6 in heat three (Race 9 at 9.28pm).
Both were last seen in action at Sandown Park on January 6, where they continued the similarly impressive starts to their careers, scoring in fast time.
Here Comes Pie (Barcia Bale x It’s A Wink) claimed his fourth win from eight starts, clocking a Best Of Night 29.25sec, while Three Wishes (Zambora Brockie x Disputive) posted 29.42sec, her fifth win from eight appearances.
“No. Here Comes Pie’s run didn’t surprise me at all,” said Douch without hesitation.
“If Here Comes Pie gets a fair crack at them he’s a very, very quick dog.”
“I said to a few of the boys that he would run between 29.20sec and 29.30sec.
“I know how good he is. He ran 25.53sec at Warragul. Only Hennessey (fastest qualifier) ran that quick in the Cup heats the other night.
“In his previous start at Sandown when he ran 29.77sec, another dog was laying on him and laying on him, before he finally got clear of it.
“He does need the fence, so we’ll just have to see how he goes from Box 6 on Saturday. A vacant box in 5 will help him because he will go left.
“I put him in the Vic Breeders at Healesville, but he just jumped out and smashed to the fence. But he hasn’t been beaten since I put him around a bend again and he is getting better at using his brains.”
WATCH: Here Comes Pie (2) was a Best Of Night 29.25sec winner at Sandown Park on January 6.
While Douch is wary about Here Comes Pie’s awkward alley, he has no such concerns with Three Wishes, which is unbeaten in two assignments from the rails.
“She’s improving every time she goes around,” he said.
“She’s just getting better and better all the time and she’s mad for the fence, so drawing ‘the red’ will be perfect for her.
“When they won at Sandown, the ‘big dog’ (Here Comes Pie) ran home in 10.51sec and Three Wishes ran home in 10.55sec, so she’s not weak either.
“I trialled them at The Meadows on Monday and Here Comes Pie went a bit better, but she ran quick too.
“She’s owned by lovely people, Sue and Wayne Boreland, and they haven’t been in the best of health, so it’s been good to see Three Wishes winning to give them a bit of a kick along.
“Because of the draw, I’d definitely have to say Three Wishes is my best chance, but if Here Comes Pie gets a fair crack at them he’s a very, very quick dog.”
Douch also has two other runners in heats of the Grade 5 series in Ha Ha Macgyver (Heat 1, Box 7) and Courageous Swan (Heat 4, Box 5).
“Courageous Swan is unbelievably fast but she’s not real honest,” Douch explained.
“You wouldn’t want to be married to her!
“She’s got all the ability in the world, but she has to get to the fence, and she has to lead. She’s never going to come from behind.
“Ha Ha Macgyver is just a good, honest dog. He’s no star but he’s probably drawn where he wants to be, off the track.”
Here Comes Pie will be chasing a fifth straight win when he makes his Meadows debut on Saturday night.
