Tony Messina, whose greyhound Little Jill scored her fourth straight win at when she opened her Wentworth Park account on Monday night, can thank wife Wilma for his decision to take up greyhound training as a hobby.
“Wilma and I used to attend Harold Park trots every Friday night and I soon got the urge to buy a pacer,’’ Messina recalled.
“But Wilma put her foot down - she wouldn’t let us get a horse.
"Because my cousin Adam Lancia was a fairly successful greyhound trainer, I went and bought a pup from him.
“When I landed home with it, Wilma said ‘what’s that’. I told her it was a greyhound puppy - and we’ve had them ever since.
“We had only been married for a year when that pup Splinters won for us at Moss Vale and Goulburn, with Adam giving me advice on how to train him.
“We became great friends with Gary Ralph, who trained Gold Spring, winner of the 1979 and 1980 Ladies Bracelet finals at Harold Park, and he advised us to pay $2000 for a greyhound called Russ’s Delight, which famous trainer Max Burdekin had for sale.
“Russ’s Delight had a reputation of only being suitable for straight track racing but Gary reckoned we could win the Appin Opal with her and then have a valuable brood bitch.
“But before the Appin Opal came along we managed to win three races at Wentworth Park with Russ’s Delight, so we abandoned plans to race her up the straight.
“Max, who later trained the 2008 Golden Easter Egg winner Blazing Token, was genuinely over the moon for us when we won in town with Russ’s Delight.
“We also had success with Dual Monaro, which we bought from legendary trainer Bob Doak, whose advice was that if you didn’t have patience there was no point being in the sport.
“In those days Wilma and I lived at Kings Langley but 14 years back we bought five acres at Llandilo where we breed, rear and train mostly our own stock.
“I worked for Caroma Bathroom Ware for 46 years but retired four years ago when I was 62, deciding to give greyhounds a go on a full time basis.
“I don’t regret that move for a minute because we have had so much fun."
Messina said his biggest thrill in the sport was when his Kristen Alyssa made the 2007 National Futurity final at Wentworth Park.
“She defeated Don McMillan’s Bralyn Maisie in her heat but in the final we drew box five and got knocked out of the race at the first turn, while Bralyn Maisie, from box one, got the money," Messina said.
“We did manage to win a Country Championship heat and final at Wentworth Park with Go Marty.
“We have had no luck in the Gosford Cup though because Red Halo, a bitch we won four races at Wentworth Park with, broke her leg in a heat of that race.
“Mostly we train greyhounds we have bred and reared but we have trained a few for good owners like Chris Ashworth, who trained Extra Kinky to win the 1981 Young Star Classic at Wentworth Park."
Messina said he enjoys taking unraced youngsters to Lithgow for the 506m races.
“I’ve found if they go well at Lithgow you know they have a chance of going on with it at Wentworth Park," he said.
“But Richmond is my favourite course because if your dog trials fast time there you can be sure he is going to win races.
“Being great friends with Gary Ralph, I was always a huge fan of his flying Harold Park bitch Gold Spring but the best greyhound I have seen would have to be Brother Fox, who broke the race record in the 1984 Vic Peters Classic at Harold Park.’’
