Part-owned and bred by Brad's mum, Nicole, Ashark ($11) scored a tough win in heat three after coming three wide down the back straight from last spot to edge out Never Know Charlie and favourite Roll With Lachlan on the line in 1:57:8.

Ashark, trained by Brad's sister Melanie, was one of five pacers to book their place in the $100,000 final at Newcastle on May 23. A second round of heats will be held this Friday at the track.

Brad was rewarded for a patient drive on Ashark, which started on the outside of the front line.

"He's going pretty good," he said. "We had to go back because everyone gets in these races and they go mad, so we drove him conservatively because there's always next week.

"But we got in, so now he's got two weeks before the final and he should sharpen up a bit more."

Elder backed up in the next race to win with the Adam Ruggari-trained favourite Hazelnuts ($3.30). The four-year-old, trained at Sawyers Gully, led from gate four and went on to beat Que Sera by 2.4m in 1:57:3.

"It was the first time I've driven that horse and Adam thought he could win," he said. "We had a crack at the top and we thought if he got to the front, he would be hard to shake."

Elder narrowly missed out on a treble of qualifiers when the Graham Moon-trained Corsini was nabbed on the line by favourite Master Catch ($2.90) in the final heat, won in 1:57:5.

Mark Callaghan took Master Catch, trained at Fullerton Cove by Lisa McDonald, forward to sit outside leader Corsini and the pair made the contest a match race down the home straight.

"She didn't get out that quick and I thought I'd done enough to hold her spot and keep them all out," Elder said.

"When I got that bit of a breather, I thought she'd be hard to beat but Master Catch goes good and won last week in 1:57."

Tamworth trainer-driver Dean Chapple's Emm Aye Dee ($8) was the first into the final, coming from a one-one sit to beat Caerareal in a photo-finish and fastest heat time of 1:57:1.

In heat two, Nulkaba trainer Clayton Harmey's Kanye Crusader ($7.50), with Blake Hughes driving, led from gate five and kicked clear on the home turn to win by 6.4m in 1:57:9.

Another highlight of the meeting was a new track record from the Roy Roots jnr-trained The Black Prince in race six.

The former Newcastle horse of the year clocked a mile rate of 1:54:1 for the 2030m course, easily bettering the mark set by the Clayton Harmey-trained Captain Brook of 1:55:0 in January 2017. The great Blacks A Fake held the record before Captain Brook.

Dolly's On A Roll gave Harmey and Hughes a double in race seven.