Two heats of the feature will be run at Dawson Park on Friday night while the 11-race meeting also features three heats of the popular P & B Miller Memorial.

“Maitland only had eight races the other night and there’s been only six or seven-dog races at Wenty Park,” Dubbo club president Shayne Stiff said.

“That’s because we’re about 22 months in after racing was banned so breeding just stopped for six months then.

“It’s hitting quickly now and there’s a lack of dogs around.”

While the quantity might not be there, the quality certainly will be on Friday night.

Some of the best trainers and dogs in NSW will be in action in the heats and Stiff found it no suprise to see more numbers for the P & B Miller series.

The likes of Raymond Smith, Dennis Barnes, Paul and Pamela Braddon, Darryl Prestwidge and hometown hope Charmaine Roberts will all be in action and vying for a special title.

“It’s only a race we started three of four years ago but Bill and Peg (Miller) were very, very, very nice people and they’re the grandparents of the Barnes’,” Stiff said.

“Charmaine had a lot of time from them and learnt from them and I got one of my very first dogs from them back about 30 years ago.

“And just the concept. You know you’re going up against maidens or dogs who have only had one or two wins so it’s a good concept.”

The first P & B Miller heat shapes as a highlight with Zipping Kretch, trained by Prestwidge and owned by the Hallinans of Molong, taking on Barnes’ promising Nangar Blaze and the Smith-trained Irinka Josh, as well as David Pringle’s Midnight Starlet and Bogan Villa from the kennels of Neil Staines.

“They’re some of the best racing families in NSW and also Australia, not just this region,” Stiff said.

The Gold Cup heats also feature plenty of big names with the first of the two shaping as the more competitive.

Braddon’s superstar, a dog Stiff labelled one of the best in the country, Falcon’s Fury will go from box seven while kennelmate Spring Jazz, Barnes’ Little Nangar and Smith’s Group 1 winner Big Daddy Bee are other leading contenders.

“He (Falcon’s Fury) is one of the top dogs in the country and has won more than $125,000 and last week in the consolation at Maitland he won in a faster time than the winner in the cup,” Stiff said.

“He’s very hard to go past.”

The second heat features class duo Ferrero Miss and Little Digger, trained by Braddon and Smith respectively, as well as the “new little boom dog”, Dolly Street, trained locally by Paul Meredith.

Racing starts 7.01pm with finals the following Friday night.