THE stage is set for one of the most competitive Regal Gold Cup finals in history at Sunderland on Saturday.

Regal Puppy Derby winner Harsu Super has an ideal trap draw and will start favourite to lift the £2,500 first prize - but he will have to be at his best to overcome the challenge of the other two semi-final winners.

Harsu Super, who used to run at the East Boldon track as an A1 grader in his early days before joining the Reading kennels of John McGee at the start of a sparkling open race career, holds the 450m track record with a time of 27 secs, clocked at the end of November.

He proved the performance to be no fluke soon afterwards when he clocked 27.02, which equalled the previous record set eight years earlier by the top-notcher New Level.

Harsu Super has not managed to reproduce similar times on a track slowed by the recent frosty weather and the going was rated -30 when he went round in 27.63 secs winning his semi-final by nearly two lengths.

But Docs Arizona, trained at Wimbledon by Owen McKenna, was only one pop slower winning his semi-final, by 3 lengths from Harsu Super's litter-sister, Harsu Heather, while former Sunderland trainer Jan Little's Bangor Don was an eye-catching winner in 27.69.

There seems little between the trio and it promises to be an intriguing final, with Harsu Super's mid-race pace the key to the contest.

Draw: 1 Harsu Heather; 2 Deerfield Felix; 3 Docs Arizona; 4 Farloe Spider; 5 Harsu Super; 6 Bangor Don.

l Brough Park is building up its hurdles strength and racing manager Terry Meynell has enough dogs - and more than enough interest from punters - to stage three races a week. The top jumper at the Tyneside track is Stuart Ray's Ballyhane Rio, switched from a modest performer at A5 grade to break the hurdles 480m record with a time of 30.32 secs. Another dog which has graduated from flat racing is Eric Rutherford's Son of Ranger, which has won six of his last eight races, and now races from scratch.