Clint Colaiacovo is so passionate about greyhound racing he left Mildura, his beloved home town where he grew up, to make his way to Wagga, where he landed a winning double on Friday.
He made the shift to Wagga simply because it provided more accessible venues for him to race his dogs.
On Friday Colaiacovo landed a double with Get On It and Run Fast Maximus, the best dog in his team of 12, adding to doubles he had previously won at Victoria's Sale and Horsham tracks.
"My grandfather Jim Ingram trained greyhounds so the sport is in my blood,'' Colaiacovo said.
"I'm 34 now and from the age of 11 I was a regular at the dogs, virtually every weekend making the three hour trip to Broken Hill, the nearest course to Mildura, or to BARMERA, in South Australia.
"I tagged along helping out with Colin Jaensch, who is now based in SA and who taught me all I know about greyhounds.
"There was seldom a weekend went by where we didn't go to Broken Hill or BARMERA, both non-TAB meetings with small prizemoney, and whether we won a race, or finished last, which was a more common scenario, we always had a ball.
"I work full-time as a carpenter so could not train greyhounds without the help of my partner, Jess Fothergill.
"We do the dogs together first thing in the morning but when I head off to work Jess fulfils all the training duties.
"There is always plenty to do because we breed, whelp, raise and break-in as well as train all our own dogs.
"Two good dogs racing currently which we bred are Spookie Vision, who is with Jodie Lord at Gunning and who has won 14 races. and Jasper The Jet, a smart Queensland-trained dog whose 13 wins have earned him over $50,000.
"I have got a lot of satisfaction out of Wagga winner Run Maximus' good recent form because I have given him two starts for two wins.
"When I got him he was racing at 27.5kg but I felt he needed to be a lot bigger so put six kilograms on him and he was 33.8kg when he won at Wagga on Friday.''
Westrock Outlaw, who won just two of 14 starts in SA before being transferred to NSW trainer Peter Mattress' kennels, will trial at Wentworth Park Tuesday night following his impressive win at LADBROKES GARDENS on Saturday.
The Caroline Hughes-owned Westrock Outlaw powered home from third on the back straight to win over 515m in 29.70s, easily fastest time of the meeting.
The dog had won in 30.05s at the July 4 LADBROKES GARDENS fixture but appreciated the move from box eight to be closer to the rails in box three on Saturday.
"Westrock Outlaw comes out okay but is not blessed with a great deal of early pace,'' trainer Peter Mattress said.
"But he is very strong and while he has not gone well at Gosford, I am hoping he will take to Wentworth Park.
"I will give him a post-to-post hand-slip there on Tuesday and if he can draw inside I think he is capable of winning in town.
"His win on Saturday was particularly encouraging because the track was not fast, and Westrock Outlaw was the only winner to break 30s on the night.''
