"I still think there is a lot more to come" - Nathan Hunt on Scooby Diamond

Hunt has a rough Diamond 

Nathan Hunt is delighted to have made the Coral Romford Puppy Cup final with Scooby Diamond.

The unbeaten Magical Luka is a red-hot favourite after his dazzling displays, but Scooby Diamond took a big step forward when making all in 23.86 in her semi-final last Friday.

She will have her work cut out in £10,000 decider on Friday night but Hunt couldn’t be more pleased with how his bitch is progressing.

“I was really pleased with her on Friday,” said Hunt.

“I thought she had that run in her, she’s progressing but she hadn’t really put it all together at Romford. 

“When the draw came out for the semi-final I was concerned about the two dog (Blackburnybullet) taking her ground early, but obviously that dog came out. It was unfortunate for that dog but fortunate of us, as it gave her a bit more room.

“She trapped well but came together a couple of times with trap four on the run up, so to still lead and to post the time she did was really good.”

Scooby Diamond is the joint-youngsest in the final, along with her litter sister Aero Najem, and Hunt thinks there could be plenty more to come from his January 2024 whelp.

He added: “She’s progressing nicely. She started off in A6 at Monmore and you could see she had a lot of pace, but she was cramping up to begin with.

“She got stronger with each run – she won A6 and then won A5 well, she won’t be seeing those grades again anyway!

“Trapping was a concern as she wasn’t a natural but she is starting to get the hang of that now. 

“You could see she had pace to burn to the third bend at Monmore and we thought it was worth taking a chance at Romford. We took her for a trail and she trialed well. 

“She didn’t trap great in her first race there but, as I say, she learnt from it and has improved.

“She’s got a thick puppy coat and that hasn’t come out properly yet. I still think there is a lot more to come with her. She’ll get stronger as she gets older and I think she will stay 480m.”

Hunt is under no illusions of the task at hand in taking on Magical Luca and he would have fancied his chances with Scooby Diamond in a “normal year”.

He continued: “It’s a puppy race but Magical Luka has had 12 races and he’s been to plenty of tracks, so he is fairly experienced. That said, it’s a puppy final at Romford and anything could happen.

“If it was a normal year, then I would say we have a chance, but it’s not a normal year as we’ve bumped into a freak in Magical Luca."

Despite facing a tough assignment against the favorite on Friday, Hunt admits he is thrilled to be involved in the decider and was quick to credit her owner.

“It’s great to be in the final,” the trainer explained. 

“It was a good semi-final that we were in so we were pleased we got through and it’s good for her owner, Steve Noble.

“He breeds a lot of dogs and she was reared and schooled by Jennifer O'Donnell. Steve thought she could be fairly useful so it is nice to see her progress. Steve owned the mother and it’s a good litter. 

“Steve had a good weekend as Scooby The Boss won his heat of the Yorkshire Derby at Doncaster on Saturday. Thankfully, the two dogs he has with me are both running well, which is nice because he puts a lot into the game.”