Peter Spiteri has been enjoying success as an owner with a wonderful litter but it is breeding and rearing which fuels the 65-year-old’s passion for greyhounds.
“I get a tremendous thrill from breeding a litter and then watching the pups grow into race dogs,’’ he says.
A litter he bred by mating his greyhound Neat Irish with Collision has been sweeping all before them, with three of the December 2012 offspring, Jack Kade, Let It Develop and Pierro Kade, qualifying for last Saturday night’s Ladbrokes Sprint Series Final at Wentworth Park.
They have won 32 races between them, while other siblings Yale and Amyjo, are Wentworth Park winners.
Another sibling, Overstocked, has been placed four times in town.
Spiteri’s trainers, JODIE Lord and Andrew Rowe, have nothing but praise for the way he rears his greyhounds on five acres at Bringelly.
“Peter concentrates on one litter at a time and by the time the pups are seven months old they have been on the walking machine and in a hydrobath," Rowe said. "Who else does that?’’
And Lord famously told Spiteri: “If I could get someone to rear and pre-train dogs as efficiently as you I could not help but become the most successful trainer in Australia.’’
Spiteri did not acquire his first greyhounds until 1997 when he bought Joseph’s Hope and Harford.
“My father Joe had raced a few greyhounds and pacers so I had been around racetracks while I was a kid,’’ he said.
“I used to peer at a picture dad had on the wall of his greyhound Mischief Pete winning at Lithgow over 40 years ago and in 1998 I gave one of my dogs that dog’s name.
“As a young fellow my favourite pacer was Mark Purdon’s Jack Kade, so I called my current greyhound after him, while I always admired Gai Waterhouse’s thoroughbred Pierro, so that’s how Pierro-kade">Pierro Kade came to be named.
“When I bought my first greyhounds I was proprietor of South Penrith Sand & Soil, a company I built from scratch and which I sold two years ago after running it for two decades.
“Ray Maitland trained my first greyhounds, Harford and Joseph’s Hope to win several races for me, and when he moved I gave them to Joe Acquilina’s son Rob, who also had success with them.
It was not long before Spiteri was training winners as well.
“The first greyhounds I trained myself were Arkade and Tryin’ who struggled to run 520 metres but won a double at Maitland in 2007," he said.
“As South Penrith Sand & Soil was a seven days a week commitment I eventually handed them over to Andrew Rowe to train and that’s how our relationship began.
“My first city winner was Hubberdeana, which is my Dutch-born wife’s Christian name.
“Hubberdeana, trained by Rob Acquilina, won three races at Wenty and seven at Richmond and I was keen for her to be my first brood bitch.
“I had secured a straw to my all-time favourite dog Brett Lee, but when Hubberdeana would not come in season I did a deal with breeder John Ghassibe to use the straw for his bitch Carrington Miss and we shared their pups.
“A bitch I received was Neat Irish, the dam of all these good dogs I am racing at present, and then Hubberdeana came in season I mated her with Go Wild Teddy and bred Neat Magic."
Spiteri started linking with handy trainers and reaped the rewards.
“Andrew Rowe trained Neat Irish to win 10 races and her first litter included Irish Sapphire and Coco Miss, who won 19 races," he said.
“Pierro Kade and company are from her second litter but sadly Neat Irish died of cancer two years ago.
“While JODIE Lord and Andrew Rowe train most of my dogs I am currently training Amyjo and have just picked up Yale, who won at Wentworth Park last month for JODIE.
“She likes to send my dogs back to me occasionally for what she calls a working holiday as she reckons the change of surroundings can rejuvenate them.’’
Spiteri has a soft spot for Dapto and Wentworth Park but says his favourite tracks are “the ones where my dogs race best.’’
And while Brett Lee stands out as the best printer he has seen, he surprisingly nominates Jason Mackay’s 2005 NSW Greyhound of the Year Texas Gold as the finest stayer.
“I loved watching Texas Gold come from behind and win big races," Spiteri said. "He was an excitement machine."
