BRANXTON trainer Susan Smith admits a maiden group 1 appearance has been made "even more exciting" with My Hepburn a greyhound "we've bred, rared and raced".
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My Hepburn will contest the Paws Of Thunder final (520 metres) at Wentworth Park on Saturday night, having recently placed for Smith in both group 2 and group 3 affairs.
"This is my first ever group 1 dog. We've been in a group 3 and a group 2. She was third in both of those and that was a big thrill," Smith told the Newcastle Herald.
My Hepburn, a two-year-old blue bitch, was third in the group 3 Christmas Gift final at Wentworth Park on December 16 before recording the same result in the group 2 Gosford Cup on the Central Coast on January 2.
She followed up with a Paws Of Thunder heat win in Sydney last weekend, clocking her own track-best time of 29.69 seconds over 520m.
My Hepburn has drawn box seven.
"It's shaped up perfectly, except I would've loved the one box again. But we're in it. A group 1 race from a dog we've bred, rared and raced, which makes it even more exciting," Smith said.
Smith still rates Vamoose, last year's Thunderbolt winner at Grafton, as her best racer but says My Hepburn is "shaping up to be quite a good girl too".
Finals for the National Futurity and National Derby, previously held at The Gardens, also take place on Saturday night.