Article provided by The Greyhound Recorder and written by Mick Floyd.

Justin Booker and his partner Kellie Morrison are preparing for one of the biggest moments of their training careers when kennel star Catch Some Rays lines up in Sunday’s Group 2 Healesville Cup Final (350m).

The son of Aussie Infrared caused the upset of the heats, toppling defending champion Mile A Minute by a neck in 19.01 in the deteriorating conditions, sending the straight track specialist into the club’s marquee event.

“We’ve never been in a Cup before,” said Justin, a 20-year veteran of the sport.

“We’re just happy to be there, but if everything goes right, you never know.”

The heat win continues Catch Some Rays’ insatiable recent form.

Catch Some Rays (3) defeats straight track star Mile A Minute (6) in a Sportsbet Healesville Cup last week.

Desperate for the fence early in his career, he would often find trouble in his races, leading to a solid although unspectacular record of 10 wins from 51 starts.

However, after a two-month break and a return to straight track racing, Catch Some Rays enters Sunday’s rich finale with five wins from his last nine starts, including his four fastest of eight wins over the Healesville 350 metre course.

“It’s like it just clicked,” Justin explained. “He’s worked it all out, and since coming back he’s got better and better.”

Interestingly, Sunday will be Catch Some Rays’ first start from the red box in 20 appearances at Healesville, a draw that looks ideal given his want for the rail.

However, with greyhounds of the calibre of Mile A Minute, Serial Sticker and Zipping Gryllis also progressing to the final, connections are under no illusions of the task ahead.

“It’s a very good field,” said Kellie. “You’ve got to do everything right and still have a bit of luck.”

Justin and Kellie hooked up 18 years ago and have had greyhounds ever since. Juggling full time work with preparing a team of four racing greyhounds, as well as an increasing number of pups including a litter from Catch Some Rays’ sister, Power Paws, which narrowly missed qualifying for the Million Dollar Chase when beaten a neck by Sunset Frazier almost 12 months ago.

Like many who breed and race their own, the couple rely on friends and family for their success and will have a large support team trackside as they search for their first group race success.

“It’s a family sport,” Kellie said. “Everyone’s involved, and that makes it even more special.”

“To have one line up in a Cup final is already a reward,” added Justin.

“Don’t get me wrong, we want to win. But just to have a dog in the race is exciting. If we can get a clear run and maybe run a place, we’ll be over the moon.”

The $40,000 to the winner Group 2 Healesville Cup will be run on Sunday afternoon.