Lagogiane Lands Littermates At Auction

Of the 145 pups sold at Sunday’s GRNSW Puppy Auction, a deal done without the sound of the gavel crashing down might be one of the most heartfelt of all. 

NSW trainer Pete Lagogiane went to the auction intent on purchasing a brother and sister by Bernardo out of Naughty But Nice from QLD breeders Jason Churchman and Anthony Bloomer.

“We really liked the blood lines of them and once we got there, we really liked the look of them too. They were both pretty leggy, and at six months old, had a good bit of size to them,” Lagogiane said.

“Jorja Howard [one of Pete’s kennel hands] showed an interest in them and she comes from a great greyhound background. Her parents have made a living out of the sport and had a lot of success breeding the ‘Zipper’ dogs. I trust her judgement, so I was happy to purChase them for the right price.”

The red fawn bitch went under the hammer first and was sold for $7000. 

But when the blue litter brother emerged for bidding later on, Lagogiane was caught in conversation.

“I was talking to an owner and totally missed out on putting a bid in which was unfortunate,” he said. 

“Anyway, at the end of the day we went home to pick up some cash to pay for the other pups we bought, and when we got back, the gentleman who brought the Naughty But Nice pups down [Bloomer] was sitting in the viewing bays with the pair of them.” 

“He stood up, shook my hand and hugged me, he had tears in his eyes and said he couldn’t leave the girl there by herself, so he brought the brother in to keep her company until we returned. He was a very delicate man and my heart melted and sank at the same time because he didn’t seem to want to separate them.”

Bloomer, 65, had in fact bought the brother bought back at the auction.

And once Lagogiane found that out, he quickly made the Queenslander an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“I was so sorry I didn’t buy the dog so I said to him, “what price do you want so we can keep them together?” I gave him a number, he accepted it and then we hugged again,” Lagogiane added.

“He said he’d watched me train dogs from afar for a long time and was so happy I bought the bitch because he knew she’d be looked after. We’re sending them away to Joe De Freitas to be reared now and we look forward to racing them when they return.”

Bloomer still emotional three days after the auction, but buoyed by the fact “the best trainer in Sydney” had taken charge of the pair.

“It was a bittersweet day because I took the dogs there to be sold but I didn’t in my wildest dreams think there would be that sort of market for them,” Bloomer said.

“I thought we might get offers between $3000 - $4000 considering there wasn’t much interest in the pair of them at three months old. But when the bidding on the bitch finished, I got pretty upset. I just get attached to my dogs and I love them to death, they give me so much. But I live in an apartment and I’ve got no kennels at the moment to even put a dog in.”

“But people were quick to tell me Peter Lagogiane bought the girl and they were saying she’d have a great chance with him and his kennels were first class. That made me really happy. I really rate him as a trainer and I honestly think he can come back and win the race with these pups.” 

The Llandilo-based Lagogiane and his associates acquiring seven pups in total at the auction for a mixture of breeding and racing opportunities.

“Brad Muhuhile is a client of ours and he bought a pair of Feral Franky x Hojilla Bale pups as well as a Bernardo x My Kinloch. We got an Aston Rupee x Prancing Diva off the Quirk boys who are good fellas. And another bloke we work for wanted a French Martini pup, so we bought one of the dogs on offer too,” Lagogiane said.

The dual Million Dollar Chase winner excited by the prospect of training the progeny of French Martini, a greyhound he won the Group 2 Black Top and Group 3 Ladies Bracelet with.

“Bloody oath I wanted to train one of her pups. French Martini just about broke or equalled track records everywhere I trialled her. If she didn’t, she ran best of the day times. She was out and out class and her dam line suggests she will throw good pups as well so why wouldn’t I want to take on her progeny,” he said.

“The plan is to train all of the pups we bought and take on Andy Lord and his She’s A Pearl pups in over a years time in the Puppy Auction series. Full credit must go to Andy as well because he had those pups looking a million bucks and like real race dogs already.”

“I like the challenge of taking on the best pups sold at the auction and it’s not generally the most expensive animal that wins the big races. May the best dog win in 2025.”

A full list of every GRNSW Puppy Auction sale can be seen here.