A few short months ago the Dubbo Gold Cup Final was the last thing on Peter Carr's mind.
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It was 2am in the morning and Carr was running down driveways of unknown properties outside of Mudgee, frantically searching for one of his dogs.
Just moments before Carr, travelling home after racing at a meeting in Sydney, had been battling fatigue and had run his car and trailer carrying a number of dogs off the road and into a small tree.
The trailer had taken the brunt of the damage and Charlie Casey, one of his star dogs more fondly known as 'Buzz' around the kennels, had escaped and bolted in shock after the incident.
Charlie Casey's brother, Jimmy Casey, was among a number of other dogs left rattled in the trailer.
"I was walking down these roads calling out for 'Buzz' and my heart was pounding," Carr said.
"It was the first time anything like that (crash) had happened so it was scary for me and it was scary for the dogs.
"It was 2am and I didn't know what to do. I could find him and it was panic. I was beside myself but he came running back to me and I just gave him a big hug because I knew he was okay."
Charlie Casey had only suffered some damage to the pads on his paws while running scared, and it took plenty of time for Carr to get he and his other dogs back to their best.
Making it even harder to work with his dogs has been the ongoing dry conditions, which have severely affected his ability to train at home.
But despite the challenges Carr's dogs did get back into top form, and on Sunday night Charlie Casey and Jimmy Casey will contest the biggest event on the Dubbo Greyhound Racing Club calendar.
Not only that, they go in as two of the main chances after the pair both won their respective Gold Cup (516m) heats at Dawson Park last week.
Jimmy Casey will jump from box one while Charlie Casey starts from box four.
"It's great to have the two boys in there," Carr, based at St Fillans outside of Mudgee, said.
"I didn't think they'd win both (heats), but I knew they were a chance.
"Ideally from my point of view I'd like Charlie in one and Jimmy from four, he handles the middle a bit better.
"There's a lot of speed around but I think they can get out and get good runs and I hope that's the way it pans out."
While Charlie Casey is the one jumping from box four and ran a slower time than his kennel-mate in the heats, the trainer thinks he has the more potential to improve.
Especially now Carr has got Charlie Casey settled again, he will travel to Dubbo in the passenger seat and not the trailer.
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"They're right back and everything has come together," Carr said.
"It's all systems go."
Carr has won the Peg and Bill Miller Memorial, another Dubbo feature to be run on Sunday, in the past but has never claimed victory in $10000-to-the-winner Ladbrokes Dubbo Gold Cup Final.
"I won the Peg and Bill Miller with these dogs' mother's sister," Carr said.
"The Gold Cup is the one on the radar and I'd love to knock it off. I've not had many starters in it and this is my big chance with the two heat winners.
"They're good enough, I just need a little luck."
Carr's pair will have to be at their best on Sunday night as the field is loaded with talent.
The Raymond Smith-trained stalwart Little Digger is expected to jump favourite from box eight, while leading hometown trainer Charmaine Roberts will have Caitlyn Keeping go from box five, and Double Up Dee will start in box eight for Cowra's Paul Braddon.
Racing starts at 4.57pm on Sunday night with the Gold Cup leaving the kennels at 7.12pm.