The five-year-old gelding resumed in a country series heat on August 16 at Newcastle after 10 months out with injury. He broke just after the start to tail off and finish last but he has since trialled well.

His previous start was a win in a country series heat but injury ruled him out of the final. Dorn was confident the pacer was fit again and, after drawing gate four for another heat on Thursday, he was hopeful of a better result.

"He seems to be sound enough, and that's the main thing," Dorn said.

"He's had a couple of problems, but a ligament in his leg is the main problem.

"It's taken us a while and hopefully he keeps going this time. He's had the run and he's worked well since then, so we know he's fit enough, it's just if he's good enough."

Sergei had four wins in 10 starts before the long spell.

Meanwhile, several Hunter hopes will head to the NSW Harness Racing awards in Sydney on Saturday night.

Danny Gibson (indigenous participant of the year), Mitch Chapple (junior trainer encouragement), Jack Callaghan (junior driver encouragement), Geoff Harding and Sam Dimarco (leading hobby trainer), Matthew Harding (leading hobby trainer) are nominees for awards.

The Darren Reay-trained Marika Springfield (2YO fillies), Roy Roots jnr-trained Miss Streisand (3YO fillies) and Dimarco-trained Black Silhouette (aged mares) are finalists for horse of the year titles.

Newcastle are nominated for best club with a feature race to a maximum of $13,000 for their derby meeting.