Rod Northam welcomes Sharp Shock call-up for Country final

But Northam also knows how lucky he is just to have the four-year-old in the $1 million race - whenever it is.

The Scone trainer heads overseas straight after the Randwick meeting, and will miss the race if predicted rain forces a postponement.

"I'm flying to Ireland tomorrow night to visit my daughter for two weeks, so I'd rather it was on tomorrow," Northam joked. "It's better for everyone to race on a fairer surface, but I'm not too worried either way. I'm going there happy to run."

Northam got the call on Tuesday that Sharp Shock had been invited into the 16-horse event after Eastern Districts heat winner Lockdown Gamble had been disqualified because of a positive swab.

Third and fourth across the line in that qualifier were offered the spot but both were spelling, while the new fourth-placegetter also wasn't ready to race. Next in line were the Southern and Northern wildcard runners-up and Sharp Shock got the nod as the highest-rated of the two.

"That's a long way down the list, so we were very lucky," Northam said.

"He was going to run in the Muswellbrook Cup today anyway, so it hasn't worried us at all. He's in good form, he's drawn well [in five] and he's fit enough to handle the heavy track. Whether or not he handles it, we'll find out."

Sharp Shock was 200-1 when second in the group 3 Newcastle Stakes before finishing runner-up to That's Molly in the Northern Wildcard at Scone. He was $19 for the final, which also features Scone's Russley Crown ($13) and Rapbidash ($31).

"It was a great run in the wildcard," Northam said.

"He's a funny horse. He gets to the front and floats, so Reece [Jones] was trying to time his run to pick up the favourite, then he saw the other thing coming that last bit. He thought he had the race won."

Northam is chasing his first win in the series final after placing with After All That (2017) and Voodoo Lad (2015).

"I haven't had the stress for the last two weeks, it's just been the last couple of days," he said.

"I'm lucky to be in it anyway, so I'll just take it as it come."

** Greyhound Racing NSW rescheduled the Golden Easter Egg series due to the wet weather. The semi-final card set down for Saturday night was put back a week and the final night meeting to April 20.