Charter Kennel’s Silver Jones tops all qualifiers for Saturday afternoon’s final of the $5,000 Winner’s Challenge at Wheeling Island.

The Rodney Cooley-trained sprinter had a first and a second in his two qualifying rounds to accumulate a total of 25 points. Silver Jones won the Holiday Sprint last December and also was a finalist in the Superstar Challenge in March.

Also qualifying for the 5/16 final are BD’s Flip (Darren Henry Kennel), 23 points; Braska Omni (Darren Henry Kennel) and Tommy Commander (C And C Kennel), 21 points each; Cry Huron (Gable Kennel), 16 points; Kiowa Rock Vince (Steubenville Kennel), 15 points; Sol Reign (Lester Raines Kennel), 13 points; and Van Do (C And C Kennel), 11 points.

Losing out to Van Do in tie-breakers were Wayne Ward Kennel’s Kiowa WW Dot and Darren Henry Kennel’s Blazing Chad. They each totaled 11 points.

The championship race will be Race 15 on the Saturday afternoon card.

The initial field of 16 greyhounds represented the track’s top sprint winners during the first half of the 2008 racing season. The eight finalists have combined for 101 wins on the year.

From the rail out, the post positions for the final are: 1-Braska Omni; 2-Van Do; 3-Tommy Commander; 4-Kiowa Rock Vince; 5-Cry Huron; 6-BD’s Flip; 7-Silver Jones; 8-Sol Reign.

Following are capsule looks at the eight finalists:

1-Braska Omni: May not have enough early speed to catch the front against this field, but Omni can absolutely fly if he gets loose early; stopped the clock in 29.43 this year; has a pair of seconds from the one box in his last five starts.

2-Van Do: Appears to have returned to his early season form after being sidelined the month of May; won three straight Grade AA races in July, including a 5-length romp from the two hole in a swift 29.59; won the Superstar Challenge in March.

3-Tommy Commander: Although he favors the outside, Tommy has four wins this year from inside boxes; consistency has been his trademark this year – he has hit the pay sheet in 33 out of his 36 Grade AA starts.

4-Kiowa Rock Vince: The youngest greyhound in the championship faces a major challenge against this talented field; will need to hit the lid and steal a nice lead to have a shot at the winner’s circle.

5-Cry Huron: A surprise finalist, she may have benefitted from a pair of one holes in her qualifying rounds; the only female in the final, Huron definitely will have some longshot odds on Saturday.

6-BD’s Flip: Rock solid since returning from competing in the Twin Rivers Sprint at Lincoln in July; posted three straight victories by a combined 14 1/2 lengths last month; not the best of post positions, so he needs to hit it hard.

7-Silver Jones: Like Van Do, Jones looks like he’s returned to the form which carried him to victory in last year’s Holiday Sprint Championship; has been first or second in six out of his last eight races; should like the outside post.

8-Sol Reign: The 3 1/2-year-old has been simply amazing this year with 17 wins (tops for sprinters); also a finalist in the Firecracker Classic in July; has a 6 1/2-length win from the eight hole this year, but inside speed may hamper his chances.

RACE ANALYSIS: Several greyhounds in this monster field possess the front speed to get the early lead, but this writer likes either Van Do or Silver Jones to pop on top and capture the second stakes victory of their careers.

Van Do should be sitting perfect with a slower breaking Braska Omni on his inside and Tommy Commander looking to go midtrack just outside of him. As for Silver Jones, he needs to outbreak BD’s Flip and Sol Reign which will put him in great position to make a midtrack rush to the turn.

While picking the winner between Van Do and Silver Jones is a tough call, I love Braska Omni to catch the ticket from the one box.

In a trifecta play, go with Van Do and Silver Jones on top with Braska Omni second and third.

Pawloski can be reached at sjpawloski@yahoo.com