Record In Sight For Don't Mind Me?

A near record heat run will see Don't Mind Me start a short priced favourite for Sunday's Peg & Bill Memorial Final (516m) on a huge night of racing out of Dubbo, headlined by the Ladbrokes sponsored Dubbo Gold Cup.

Trained by Charmaine Roberts, Don't Mind Me made light work of box eight in his scorching 29.34 heat success on Sunday, the son of Barcia Bale and Funky Punk lowering the already blinding 29.42 he posted at the venue back on April 12.

The track record stands to Dave Pringle's Midnight Starlet at 29.27, set in September, 2018.

"How do I put it? He's a very fast, bad, dog – that's probably the best description," said Roberts in the lead up to Sunday's $10,000 to-the-winner finale.

"He had I think three trainers before he came to us and the word was he was a non-stop barker but he must like it here because he's settled in great. But don't get me wrong, he's got his hang-ups, he's far from perfect!"

Winner of the $10,000 to-the-winner event back in 2017 with Lexie Keeping, Roberts and partner Shayne Stiff take a decided time advantage into Sunday's decider with Don't Mind Me, after the remaining heats went the way of Fusion Kiss for Wes McDonald in 29.70, and Mark Swift's impressive debutant Happy Go Lucky in 30.04.

“We'd love to win this race again, I was close to Peg And Bill (Miller), they sold our foundation brood bitch Intelligent to my father all those year's back now,” reflected Roberts.

"Shayne wanted box eight for the final but I would have preferred two or three with him but you make do with what you get. It's just you don't always know what you'll get with him," added Roberts of Don't Mind Me, winner at two of his seven career starts.

"It was a bit of a fluke that we got him actually. Shayne was down getting the dogs checked by Jingles (Sam Cauchi) one day and he asked Shayne if we'd like to give the dog a go for his owner Megan Harris who took ownership after her father passed away.

"I remember the first time we slipped him up the straight he just stood there and looked at us. I said to Shayne we don't need this but we persevered with him and slowly he's improved, he's happy here which is the key I think.

"Even when we tried him with a squeaker early on he'd just walk away and go lay in the grass – he's different that's for sure but he's got a big motor.”

On a huge night of racing this Sunday, Roberts' grand bitch Caitlyn Keeping will size up yet another feature race final, the daughter of Fabregas scraping through to the Dubbo Cup decider after finishing fourth in her heat behind Jimmy Casey.

Showing her customary early dash, the Group 2 Black Top winner and Listed Bathurst Cup heroine made full use of box one to lead up her heat, before being swamped late to finish fourth, beaten 2 ¼ lengths.

"To be honest she'll need a lot of luck to win, she just can't see out the 500 against this grade anymore," added Roberts.

"I'd like to retire her and wait for her to come on season but we'll just see what happens after Sunday. She ran a personal best getting beaten in her heat but I'd be surprised if this isn't at least her last 500 metre race on Sunday.

"If she leads she'd need trouble behind to get away with it – she's been great to us."

And with Dubbo showcasing greyhound racing in a positive light this weekend, Charmaine said the club is expecting another terrific crowd to roll in.

"It should be another great crowd on Sunday, last week was terrific – heaps of young people – and we're expecting the same this week, the club's doing a great job marketing it to the local community."

Click here for Sunday's Dubbo fields and form