Astrophysic sets pace

The 400m king from Paul Stuart's kennels made light work of both a wide draw and his rivals to score a dominant victory by seven lengths in 22.40.

Astrophysic has now saluted in 30 of 38 starts over the journey and will start favourite from box two in the final, although he�ll face a stern challenge from classy up-and-comers Unending and Magnifico.

The Steve Shinners-prepared Unending strolled to a fifth straight win when he took out his heat in 22.62, a result which continued the greyhound's 10-race undefeated sequence over the 405m trip.

Magnifico rebounded into the winner's circle when he collected his heat in 22.65 and with the benefit of the pole he has claims in the trophy decider.

The other heat winners were You Say Goodbye (22.65), TarksCaliber (22.88) and Burundi (22.69).