While local premier trainer Linda Britton will provide half the field for Saturday night's Group 1 Sky Racing Perth Cup Final (530m), big race trainer Paul Stuart believes Hillbilly Flash is not badly drawn in box four.
Hillbilly Flash won his heat from box one in 30.36, second only to the Britton-trained Zelemar Fever (30.30).
Stuart is chasing back-to-back Perth Cups after winning the 2013 edition with Dyna Nalin, who this year finished third behind Allen Deed in heat five.
Hillbilly Flash was not the quickest away and was checked early but showed good acceleration to take the lead up the back before powering away to score by seven lengths, running a very quick last sectional of 11.40, the fastest of the eight heats.
"He didn't come out the best but settled behind the pace without striking too much trouble and then moved around dogs to take the lead," Stuart said.
"I've only had him for a handful of starts and from what I could tell he was pretty desperate for the rails so I was a little surprised when he went to the outside.
"He's racing with a lot of confidence and it was a very impressive win. He's a very promising dog.
"I don’t think he'll be too disadvantaged by box four in the final. He runs a straight line out of the boxes and once he gets going he's got plenty of early dash so hopefully he can put himself into the race."
Stuart also has Ash Flash engaged in the Group 1 Sky Racing Galaxy final after winning the second of two heats in 42.07.
Time honours went to the Rob Britton-trained Born Ali in 41.71, while other heat winners were Sweet It Is (41.99) and Dyna Willow (42.17).
Box draw for Group 1 Sky Racing Perth Cup (530m)
1 Saving Bundles, 2 Allen Deed, 3 Keybow, 4 Hillbilly Flash, 5 High Recall, 6 Zelemar Fever, 7 Sveta Monelli, 8 Star recall, 9 Te Amo, 10 Love Of Lauryn
Box draw for Group 1 Sky Racing Galaxy (715m)
1 Born Ali, 2 Sweet It Is, 3 Dyna Willow, 4 Reverberate, 5 infinite Wish, 6 Hellmuth, 7 Gold Affair Two, 8 Ash Flash, 9 Dyna Werribee, 10 Sassy Bullet
