Peter Akathiotis is a self-taught greyhound trainer whose methods are unorthodox but he won the 1992 Melbourne Cup with Master Giant and believes Blue Striker, his finalist in Saturday night's Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg, is faster.
Blue Striker, who has box seven in the $250,000 to the winner final at Wentworth Park, stunned racegoers by giving crack sprinter Miss Splendamiro a start and a beating in last week's semi-finals, covering the 520m in 29.58, fastest time of the night.
Blue Striker had produced the same powerhouse finish to run down Poke The Bear, at the time regarded as Australia's fastest greyhound, in a 595m race at Sandown on March 21.
"My dog has a bad draw on Saturday night, just like he did when he ran second in a heat of the Melbourne Cup and third in an Australian Cup heat,'' Akathiotis said.
"And earlier this year he reached the finals of the Cranbourne and Horsham Cups but drew box six both times and got beaten.
"But he still has a good show on Saturday because he is so determined, he gives his tenacious best every time he goes to the track.
"While most trainers trial their dogs between races I never do that, Blue Striker keeps fit with occasional free galloping in a paddock at my home at Reservoir, near The Meadows greyhound track in Melbourne.
"I was working in a bank when I got my first greyhound in 1977 and learned how to train dogs by being willing to listen when experienced trainers offered me advice and through reading lots of books, especially those involving feeding.
"I only train four greyhounds and although at 66 I am now retired, the sport is still just a hobby for me.''
Akathiotis bred Blue Striker by mating Blue Giant, who he trained to win 21 races, with that dog's kennelmate Blue Stavros, a winner of eight races.
"Stavros means fleet-footed in ancient Greek so my naming optimism has been justified as far as her son Blue Striker goes,'' Akathiotis added.
Second fastest qualifier for Saturday night's Golden Easter Egg is the Peter Lagogiane-trained Federal Lilly, who led throughout in her semi-final in 29.65 but recorded exceptionally fast sectional times.
And although she has drawn box five, Federal Lilly is well positioned according to her trainer.
Lagogiane was a house painter with a couple of dogs at home at suburban Greystanes, until he won enough races to be encouraged to "take the plunge'' at being a professional trainer.
That bold move paid off when his wife JODIE's greyhound Mystic Riot won the world's first $1 million greyhound race, the GRNSW + Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase, at Wentworth Park in October.
"This sport is the reason I have a wonderful wife and beautiful kids, because I met JODIE when she was working as a receptionist for a veterinary surgeon where I had taken one of my dogs for treatment,'' Lagogiane recalled.
While most dogs competing on Saturday night are raised on farms specialising in greyhounds or occasionally in suburban backyards, Federal Lilly grew up alongside budding young racehorses in the plush Dooralong Valley, on the NSW central coast.
She was reared on Emeran Park Thoroughbreds' 100 acre property which produced 2016's dual Group 1 Flight Stakes and One Thousand Guineas winner winner Global Glamour and 2017 Magic Millions Sprint winner Target In Sight.
Emeran Park's website claims the "rolling hills and undulating terrain build muscle tone and bone density in young racehorses'' and it seems Federal Lilly also acquired those attributes.
She took out the $25,000 to the winner Young Star Classic final at only her second Wentworth Park start on October 20 and has improved considerably since, winning nine of her past 17 races.
Federal Lilly will be looking to end Victoria's domination of the Golden Easter Egg, as she is owned and trained in NSW while Blue Striker and the other favourites, Black Opium and Miss Splendamiro, are from Victorian kennels.
Victorian-trained greyhounds have won the past nine Easter Egg finals, with Fernando Bale, Australia's top dog of the past decade, setting a race record of 29.48 in 2015.
Only trainers on Saturday night to have previously tasted success in Wentworth Park's biggest race are husband-and-wife team Jason and Seona Thompson, who won in 2016 with Moreira and with Don't Knocka Him in 2012.
The Thompsons' greyhound Black Opium, runner-up in last year's Group 1 Melbourne Cup and this year's Group 1 Australian Cup, has box one on Saturday night.
