Former NSW Trainer of the Year Rod McDonald will be hoping the home crowd advantage will help him win his first Cowra GRNSW Country Challenge Final on Friday evening with star greyhound Good Thing.

Arguably one of the greatest trainers ever to come out of Cowra, McDonald has never been able to snag a victory in his home town leg of the GRNSW Country Challenge.

McDonald will no doubt be hoping Good Thing, a 2011 Group 1 Paws Of Thunder semi finalist, can return to form and break the trainer's Country Challenge hoodoo. Despite winning over $50,000 in prizemoney throughout her career, Good Thing only managed to scrape into the final after finishing third in her heat last Friday.

While Good Thing will have the home crowd on her side, she will have to get past some very promising greyhounds, including the John Mathias trained Active Scoop. Active Scoop was an impressive heat winner last week and had his chances in the final boosted when he drew the coveted red rug.

Another greyhound to watch out for in the Cowra GRNSW Country Challenge Final is Ritza Ronnie, trained by Charmaine Roberts in Dubbo, who was the fastest heat winner despite having his first start at the Cowra track.

The Cowra Country Challenge Final traditionally attracts a bumper crowd and is once again supported this year by a fantastic 10-race card which will showcase some of the best greyhounds competing in Central West NSW.

The 2012 GRNSW Country Challenge will be held at 20 Non-TAB tracks throughout regional NSW. Greyhounds accumulate points according to their place in each individual final with connections of the highest-scoring greyhound at the end of the series proper to collect $12,500. The top eight greyhounds are then invited to compete at Wentworth Park in the K.S. Black & Co. Country Challenge Showdown on Saturday October 13 where they will compete for a further $25,000 in prizemoney.

The Cowra Country Challenge Final will jump at 7.15pm.  Fields can be viewed here.