Few would argue that Westmead Carl deserves to pick up a major prize in tonight's William Hill Northern Puppy Derby Final at Sunderland.
Nick Savva's consistent charge was third in the Peterborough Puppy Derby and a narrow second in last month's Romford Puppy Cup, so has certainly been knocking on the door.
The November 2007 whelp has taken well to Sunderland's tricky 450m circuit with first-round and semi-final wins and certainly has the luck of the draw in the decider.
As the only railer to qualify he was assured of the red jacket, but the added bonus is that chief market rival Ten Large Down will be veering right as soon as he leaves the boxes from trap two.
The latter has to be feared after winning seven of his first 10 races and posting some fast times both here and when taking a decent puppy event at Henlow.
However, he will have to be quick off the blocks to avoid an early bump here and, with both the joint-favourites 15/8 at Stan James, preference is for Westmead Carl.
Seamus Cahill is always a man to watch out for on the big TV nights and he looks to have a likely sort in Raving Black at 2/1 with Stan James for the William Hill Stayers over 640m.
This strong runner was actually second in last year's Puppy Derby final at this track and has gone on to land 15 Open wins at six different venues.
Recent track record runs at Sheffield and Yarmouth have established him as one of the top six-bend dogs in the country and he can gain compensation for a shock early exit in the St Leger.
Global Kipper was a good winner in front of the cameras at Belle Vue last week and is another worthy favourite at Evens with the sponsors in the williamhillradio.com Stayers.
And what better way to start proceedings than with a victory for 2007 Derby hero Westmead Lord in the William Hill British Bred over 450m.
He returned from a spell on the sidelines with two promising runs at Henlow and Hove and 3/1 with Hills for him to now be sharp enough for this contest is worth a punt.