It will be an enormous achievement by young Western Australian trainer Paul Stuart if Dyna Nalin can win Saturday night's Group 1 Maurice Blackburn Lawyers Australian Cup (525m) at The Meadows.
Not that Stuart is a stranger to Group 1 success, however, this time the $250,000 first prize will elevate Dyna Nalin (pictured) to the top of the all-time money-earners list, surpassing former kennelmate Miata.
And if that happens then Stuart will have trained the greyhounds holding the top two positions on the list.
Dyna Nalin produced one of his trademark strong finishes to win his heat last weekend in 30.03, which was well short of the time set by flying Perth Cup winner Keybow, who spread-eagled his rivals to win in 29.58 - the second fastest time ever recorded at The Meadows.
But as Stuart pointed out before last week's heats Dyna Nalin has never been a high-profile dog that runs sensational times, but he is the complete race dog.
While Keybow (box two) is trained in Victoria by Darren McDonald he is owned by Kel Lean, who hails from the NSW town of East Maitland.
And Lean has had the ride of his life over the past month, travelling to Perth with family and friends to see Keybow taste Group 1 glory.
"Nothing can compare with winning a Group 1 race and to be in Perth to see it with family and friends was just incredible," Lean said.
"But his win last week was unbelievable. He jumped to the lead and just gave nothing else a chance.
"There's a lot of speed drawn around him so he is going to need a bit of luck early on Saturday night. I was hoping he would draw box one and make his own luck but I still think he has a great chance.
"I'm driving down to Victoria on Saturday morning for the race."
Darren McDonald will also be represented in the Australian Cup by Hallelujah Henry (box five), an impressive heat winner but he would have to lead to be a genuine winning chance.
Ace Victorian trainer Jason Thompson will be looking to complete the Melbourne Cup-Australian Cup double when Innocent Til exits box four. He showed brilliant early speed to lead all-the-way in his 29.79 heat win.
Of course the Thompson-trained Black Magic Opal took out the Group 1 Melbourne Cup on November 21 last year.
Group 1 Brisbane Cup winner Kiss Me Ketut is ideally drawn in box one and led throughout to win his heat in the second fastest time of 29.77.
