Hunt looking to leave rivals in the dust

The Welsh trainer – dual-attached to both Monmore and Romford – has two runners in the Gold Cup showpiece and one in the Summer Stayers, with each Category One competition worth £10,000 to the victor.

Cunnigar Yousir and Seaview Sydney are in trap two and four respectively in the Gold Cup final which goes off at 8.47pm while wide runner Cooladerry Dust is in trap six for the Summer Stayers final at 9.04pm.

Yousir goes into the Gold Cup final with an unbeaten record in the competition, following up a first-round success with another impressive win in 28.14secs last weekend.

Sydney put in a strong showing to give Chuchfield Syd – Richard Rees’ red-hot favourite to land the spoils this evening – a good run for his money in the semi-finals, though perhaps Hunt’s best hope is Dust in the Summer Stayers.

He was brilliant in both the initial heats and semi-finals, and he has a great draw being the race’s only wide runner.

This is his third Category One final appearance, too, so Hunt will hope it proves to be third time lucky.

It is worth noting, however, that last year’s runner-up Droopys Clue, despite not being at his best over the past couple of weeks, is still the favourite with most bookmakers for Hove-based handler Seamus Cahill.

“Dust is probably our best chance, he’s been very impressive in the competition and over the last couple of months,” said Hunt. “We got to the Regency final at Hove with him recently, but it didn’t quite go to plan in the race, so hopefully he can get everything right this time around as he’ll have to be spot-on to win the final. He’s certainly capable of doing it.

“Yousir and Sydney have been running out of their skin. We’re probably relying on Chuchfield Syd not to trap, but our two are more than good enough to win and in the final on merit.

“We’re delighted to have three out of the 12 finalists across the two competitions, and it’d be amazing to win a Category One competition at one of our home tracks. Whatever happens, it’s been a fantastic journey.”

As well as the two Category One finals, there are two Category Three competitions coming to a head in the Peter Billingham Memorial Trophy and @Monmoredogs Dash. Three Monmore trainers are involved in the Peter Billingham final, with Aero Pattika (Richie Taberner), Bandanna Bono (Chris Fereday) and Tree Top Copper (Alan Jenkins) going for glory. Taberner has two more greyhounds in the Dash, super-quick sprinters Maughera Ace and Cree Jo Jo, while Brian Thompson’s consistent performer Knock Beeswing looks to round out a brilliant few months in style.