OBERON trainer Wayne White is hoping that his Grin will lead to some very big smiles on Saturday night after qualifying a member of his team for a Group 1 final for the first time in his career.
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White's Jerulas Grin will contest the NSW Breeders Challenge three-year-old colts and geldings final to be held at Menangle Park.
With a $125,000 purse on offer White is pinching himself after Jerulas Grin drew barrier one for the final.
"I'm very pleased with the draw, it means he'll get his chance," White said.
"We took a sit in the semi, I thought that he would be running his personal best time so better off doing that with a sit and making the final rather than going to war, but I can't see us handing up in the final.
"I wouldn't say I'm confident as far as all of the horses in the race are good horses, but he'll get his chance from barrier one."
After missing his two-year-old season, Jerulas Grin came into work with the hope that he would race for connections as a three-year-old. He has now had six starts for four wins and two seconds and become White's first runner to qualify for a Group 1 race.
It is an outcome that White admits has been surprising and he knows he won't be the only one crossing his fingers on Saturday.
"The first time Justin [Reynolds] drove him at the trials I told him that he's not much good but he'll do everything right. He went out and galloped 400 from home and still ran his last half in 56 [seconds], so he did the complete opposite of what I told Justin," White laughed.
"Justin drove him for his first three runs because Jason [Turnbull] was out with his broken leg. After he drove him at Menangle he came off and said to me 'You don't know how good this horse is'.
"It's a real credit to Justin because the horse was always Jason's to drive and even though he isn't driving him at the moment, he is still the horse's second biggest fan behind me."
Turnbull has been in the gig during the Breeders Challenge series and has done an excellent job for White.
He steered Jerulas Grin to a commanding 27.3m win in his heat at Bathurst, clocking a hot 1:53.4 mile rate.
In last Saturday night's semi-final, Jerulas Grin showed gate speed and led before handing up and taking the sit behind eventual winner and $2 favourite Private Eye.
Jerulas Grin finished 1.9m behind Private Eye - who got home in a blistering 26.4 seconds final sectional - to qualify for the Group 1 decider.
White is not the only Bathurst district trainer who will be hoping for success in the Breeders Challenge finals.
Steve Turnbull's Saint Emilion will go from barrier three in the same race as Jerulas Grin, while the field for the three-year-old fillies decider includes Peter Trevor-Jones' Misdemeanor, Chris Frisby's Jenden Strike and Bernie Hewitt's Angel Shark.
Frisby's He Aint Fakin and Gemma Hewitt's Kashed Up are in the two-year-old colts and geldings final, while Bernie Hewitt has Somethingaboutlexy, Beta Jewel and Iamajoyride in the fillies.
