Miner's Moss will jump from box seven in next week's Group 2 Black Top final after bettering some of his more fancied rivals to set the fastest time in last night's heats at Unibet Gardens.
Trained by Mathew Reid in the NSW Northern Rivers, Miner's Moss began well and quickly took a commanding lead before running away from his opposition to record 2 1/2 length win in 29.43.
It was Miner's Moss' 25th win from 57 starts and maintained his perfect record at Unibet Gardens after two starts.
A win in next week's $40,000-to-the-winner Black Top final will take Miner's Moss' earnings past $80,000.
In other heat results, Zipping Willow notched up her ninth straight win when she took out her heat in 29.44.
Zipping Willow overcame a modereate start to take the lead down the back, before powering away for a convincing 4 3/4 length win.
The Jason MACKAY-trained star will have to be at her best in next week's final after she drew box five.
MACKAY would be well advised to go out and buy a lottery ticket after his other finalist - Zipping Summah - also drew awkwardly in box four.
Zipping Summah should be up to the task if her heat was anything to go by last night. There she had to overcome box five, leading all the way to win in 29.49.
The Black Top trophy could yet be heading to the Sunshine State after Queensland Rose Of Galo scored an impressive 29.47 win in her first look at the track.
Other heat winners were Cloud Ten (29.59) and Alan's Kidz (29.66).
Meanwhile, Push It and Hersi qualified for the final after being the fastest two second placed finishers in the heats. Both cannot be discounted from the final either after they drew box one and two respectively.
The box draw for the Group 2 Black Top is: 1. Push It 2. Hersi 3. Alan's Kidz 4. Zipping Summah 5. Zipping Willow 6. Cloud Ten 7. Miner's Moss 8. Rose Of Galo 9. Tricky Rose 10. Kilkenny Babe.
The Black Top is the first leg of the new Thank Dog It's Friday racing series which sees feature races in regional NSW staged on a Friday night.
