West Australian trainer Adam Smithson is pinching himself after his kennel star Vice Grip won his way through to the Group 1 Sportsbet Melbourne Cup Final (515m) last Saturday night in trying conditions at Sandown Park.

In driving rain, Vice Grip made his 37^th victory from 81 starts count, running down Nitro Bale to make it through to the $1 million race.

“It’s always been a goal to compete in this type of race and Vice Grip is allowing that to come true,” Smithson said.

“What the dog (Vice Grip) has done is a pinch-yourself moment – he has been unbelievable for me.”

Vice Grip has won multiple Group races for Smithson, 29, and his young family since moving into their care in August last year – highlighted by the pinnacle of WA greyhound racing, the Group 1 Perth Cup (520m).

“What the dog has done is a pinch-yourself moment – he has been unbelievable for me.

“It is rewarding in itself that you can do something you love for a living.”

WATCH: VICE GRIP (B5) displayed all of his trademark grit to overhaul NITRO BALE (B6) in the seventh heat of the Group 1 Sportsbet Melbourne Cup in a time of 29.63 seconds.

Smithson, a former sparkie from Perth who quite simply had enough of being inside a roof on 40-degree days, started training greyhounds from his Nambeelup base a few years ago and has not looked back.

The WA duo have drawn box 3 in Saturday night’s Sportsbet Melbourne Cup Final, a race Aston Dee Bee – the sire of Vice Grip – won in 2017 for trainer Seona Thompson.

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“He didn’t want the red box so it’s not a disaster being drawn in box 3 but like all of the dogs in the (Melbourne) Cup, he has to come out to put himself into a winning position.

“Vice Grip’s best attribute is his heart – he is never out of the race and will always just push through.”

Owned and bred by the Victorian-based Four Frothys Syndicate, Vice Grip also contested the inaugural running of The Phoenix (525m) at The Meadows in December last year.