Trendy Tia is a bit like her trainer Frank Daros – she has no intention of retiring.
Daros, who trains a small team at ELLIS LANE, near Cobbity, decided to breed from Trendy Tia in February after she had scored 18 wins and 15 placings from 49 starts.
But Trendy Tia is now about to resume racing again.
“She just won’t come in season and she is driving me mad at home," Daros said.
“She wants to run and gets jealous when she sees the other dogs in my kennel, Mark Sloane, Anthony’s Boy and Super’s Son, heading off to the races or trials.
“I’ve been forced to trial her up the straight to keep her happy.
"Although she turns four in July she is running the same times she was clocking when she won four races at Wentworth Park, including a 29.90 effort on February 7.
“But I won’t bring her back to town, I’ll just run her at the provincials, starting off at Bulli.’’
Daros too is not contemplating retirement, as, at 76 years of age, he has just bought a pair of eight-month-old puppies by Head Bound at the Dapto Puppy Auction.
These pups should bear watching as the veteran trainer is a keen judge, having bought Anthony’s Boy and Super’s Son from their breeder Adele Powell for just $1500 apiece when they were three months old.
Anthony’s Boy and Super’s Son, by Superman from Naughty Nicki, are litter brothers to Adele’s Lacey Lois, who has had two wins and nine placings from 14 Wentworth Park starts.
Daros intends to bring Anthony’s Boy to Wentworth Park shortly.
“I’m going to have to because he needs more ground," he said.
"The 520 metres there should suit him.
Anthony’s Boy has won six of his 15 starts and rattled home to win over 400m at Maitland on May 15 and to finish second in a fast 22.67 over 400m at Richmond nine days later.
Frank Daros’ greyhounds have always been renowned for compiling impressive strike rates.
Super’s Son has won six of 18 starts while Mark Sloane, which he purchased the fill Trendy Tia’s kennel when she “retired’’ has won three of his past six outings, the latest in a best of the meeting 22.58 at Maitland on May 15.
“I have never liked bringing my greyhounds to the city tracks too early,’’ Daros said.
“I see them coming to town at 18 to 24 months of age but then these same dogs disappear.
“If you bring them to the city too soon you won’t have them racing when they are four years old.
“And I’ve always tried to make my dogs last as long as possible, simply because good ones are too hard to replace!
“To me, that is the mark of a good trainer, someone who can keep a greyhound racing well until they are four years old and over.’’
While many trainers have grown up with greyhounds through family connections or friendships, Daros was thrown into the deep end when he migrated from Italy in 1962.
He had been a champion bicycle racer in his homeland and was considered a certain selection in Italy’s team for the 1960 Rome Olympics.
But there was big money in professional bike racing in Europe so Daros turned professional just before the Olympic team was announced and found him out of the Rome Games.
“In 1962 my brother decided to shift to Australia and much to the dismay of my father, Attilio, I decided to follow him,’’ Daros said.
“My father had a successful building business in Treviso, about 40 kilometres from Venice, and dad expected me to take over when he retired.
“My brother assured him I wouldn’t last long in Australia and would come back to Italy but 52 years later I’m still here.
“When I first came to Australia I tried to make a living as a professional bicycle racer but soon found that unlike Europe, there was no decent money to be made out of the sport here. So I became a greyhound trainer!
“I had acquired an interest and some knowledge of animals through an uncle who had a veterinary practice near Venice.
“My first city winners came in 1972, winning at Harold Park with Colorado Miss and at Wentworth Park with Cardigan Rose.
“But the best I’ve had were Golden Jedda, who finished second to Stormy Opera in the 1994 Ladies Bracelet final at Wentworth Park, and a prolific winner called I’m Jedda.’’
Daros was once a big punter and was famous for pulling off betting plunges.
“I often had $4000 or $5000 on one of my dogs but I’m too old now, I couldn’t cope with the stress of punting like that any more,’’ he said.
