GOLDCASH WARRIOR heads into Sunday’s Time Greyhound Nutrition 3 Steps To Victory Final at Sheffield still favourite for the £10,000 prize – despite defeat in last week’s semi-finals.

The 660m final of the unique tri-distance event follows heats over 480m and semi-finals over 500m, but now the six finalists face a six-bend test at Owlerton Stadium and, while a number of the runners already have form over the trip, the Nathan Hunt-trained Goldcash Warrior is very much stepping into the unknown.

However, the Monmore handler is more than hopeful the Fred Ellison-owned runner can handle the extra metres as he looks to continue the kennel’s rich vein of form having landed the David Lipsey Trophy, or Trainers Judgement Night, on home soil earlier this month.

Hunt said: “I thought he ran very well in the 480m first round which was his first look at the track.

“Maybe the change of traps possibly caught him out in Sunday’s 500m semis and he slightly stumbled coming out. He’ll need a good break in the final to get off the front.

“His mother is out of Volcano, which makes his grand-dam Flying Winner, and it’s a line which has thrown many staying dogs such as Space Jet. Most of his litter comrades have been stepped up to six bends so we’re hopeful he can make the step up.”

Lining up in the first semi over 500m, Goldcash Warrior went off a long odds-on chance to strike gold but a mis-step from the boxes gave the impetus quickly to local star Cooladerrydancer who impressively needed no second invitation to turn a first-bend lead into a winning one.

Goldcash Warrior kept on well in second to qualify but victory went to Rose Draper’s December 2023 daughter of Lenson Bocko and Glenduff Callie in 29.11sec (-10) who now looks to add to the Draper family’s superb record in the event.

Fastest of the semi-final winners was the strong-running Kelly Wilton-trained Fortanach Col, an August 2023 son of Ballymac Best and Ballymac Minton, who caught pace-setting Brunssum Bubble (Jimmy Fenwick) to score by a length in 29.03sec (-10).

The final two places for Sunday’s final were claimed by Carl Gardiner’s Easy Tizzy and Timmys Hunter (Pat Curtin) with the former, an April 2023 daughter of Grangeview Ten and Tarastar, who made all to score by three-quarters of a length from the always-handy runner-up in 29.32sec (-10).