Lennytheshark and Philadelphia Man are leading the way so far after the first two rounds and look a cut above their 28 rivals.
The duo both won their heats at Gloucester Park last Friday and went to the well once more with wins at Bunbury on Tuesday night.
First-night winner Devendra found the going a bit tougher in Philadephia Man's heat, running fifth as the winner cut out a time of 1.54.2 for the one mile [1609m].
The third heat went the way of former Kiwi pacer My Hard Copy, who set a track record of 1.51.6 as he downed Major Crocker and Franco Ledger, who is still owned in Otago and Southland.
The third round of heats tomorrow night will have plenty of connections waiting nervously for the results.
Bizarrely, tomorrow night's heats are run using a preferential-barrier draw system, the top point-scorers starting from the worst possible draws.
Preferential-barrier draws are generally used in the intermediate grades to even up fields with a wide range of graded horses.
Of the 30 horses in the series, 17 are sitting in the range from 0 to 18 points, so the draw system - while controversial - will certainly ensure drivers leave nothing to chance over the 2536m trip.
This means Lennytheshark, Philadelphia Man and Devendra all start from the outside of the nine-horse front line.
Franco Ledger will start from barrier 5 in the first heat, with My Hard Copy starting two spots further out.
Former Kiwi open-class pacer Jason Rulz probably needs a top-three placing to have a hope of making the final, and starts from barrier 5 in Philadelphia Man's heat.
The final is held on Sunday, November 13 at 8.45pm (New Zealand time).
