Kel Greenough has warned favourite Big Energy will need to be at his “absolute best” to continue his love affair with Sandown Park in Wednesday night’s always hugely-anticipated Speed Star series.

Big Energy, a son of Aussie Infrared that started his career in WA, has won 10 of his 19 starts, with six of those victories coming at Sandown.

He’s a member of Sandown’s exclusive sub-29 club, courtesy of a breathtaking 28.93sec performance in the Launching Pad Runway Final on April 6; only track record holder Aston Rupee, champion Wow She’s Fast and Melbourne Cup winner Hard Style Rico have gone quicker.

The runner-up on that occasion was Transponder, his rival in Wednesday’s final 515m match race (Race 12, 9.15pm).

“Two-out should suit him, but it’s obviously the fastest dogs around, so he’ll have to be at his absolute best to win it.”

Greyhounds qualified for the three Speed Star events on times run between June 1 and August 20.

Big Energy (29.11sec) and Jason Thompson’s Transponder (29.12sec) are the one and two ‘seeds’, in the absence of Transponder’s kennelmate Postman Pat (29.06sec), hot favourite for Saturday night’s G1 National Sprint Championship.

Big Energy has won twice at Sandown since returning from a six-week break, clocking 29.14sec and then 29.49sec at his most recent appearance on August 12, both BOD efforts.

“He sprained a wrist, so I had to stop and start again, and he came back running 29.14sec, but then last week was disappointing,” said co-trainer Kel Greenough.

“He won, but I wasn’t that impressed with him. He got to the leader and didn’t really put the foot down.

“I gave him a trial on Friday, and he went really good, so I figured there’s not much wrong with him. I also got a blood test done to make sure I hadn’t missed anything and that was all clear.”

WATCH: “Big Energy with a big run!” Speed Star contender BIG ENERGY (B2) resumed from a let-up with a scorching 29.14sec BOD victory at Sandown Park on August 6.

While Greenough would’ve preferred an inside draw for what could well be a series-deciding duel with Transponder, Sportsbet has marked Big Energy (box 3) $1.65 ahead of Transponder (box 1) at $2.30.

The track specialist is the clear-cut overall favourite at $3.80.

The match race format plays into Big Energy’s strengths; however Greenough says it’s unlikely he can better his near-record PB.

CLICK HERE FOR SPORTSBET’S LATEST SPEED STAR MARKETS

“Two-out should suit him, but it’s obviously the fastest dogs around, so he’ll have to be at his absolute best to win it,” he said.

“In a full field, he needs to draw a box if he gets into a big race, and he needs the other dogs to go the right way. He’s not a big dog and can’t take too much pushing or shoving.

“I think we have summer and winter tracks and that’s a big difference. At the moment, the track is pretty good, but I don’t know if anything is capable of breaking ‘29’ at the minute. But come Spring and Melbourne Cup-time, I’m sure they’ll get back to those sorts of times.”

With a host of feature races on the horizon, Greenough has added huge ‘star power’ to his team with the arrival of South Australian sensation Victa Damian.

Victa Damian has won 14 from 24, highlighted by the G1 National Derby, with Greenough asked to take on the G1 Australian Cup placegetter by owner/breeders, the Schadow family, following the suspension of former trainers Tony and Lisa Rasmussen.

“The circumstances aren’t ideal,” Greenough said.

“Everyone in the industry doesn’t like to see what happened, but obviously it wasn’t the owners’ fault or the dog’s fault.

“In saying that, the dog arrived last week and injury-wise and muscle-wise he was brilliant. The dog had been very well looked after.

“It won’t be a long period of time (before he races). Just settling in and he was down a bit in weight, which we’ll have to put back on.

“Excited to see what he can do, but I think his biggest problem is that he hasn’t really shown speed from the boxes to the corner and maybe he can’t. Coming out of the boxes, sometimes he missed it bad, but when he does jump reasonably he’s off and gone.

“So he’s got the motor, but whether we have enough luck, time will tell. But he’s just an absolutely lovely dog and lovely people that own him, so hopefully it all works out.”

Tune in: The Speed Star will receive dedicated coverage on Sky 2 from 6.45pm Wednesday.