Always Primed, which will reach a remarkable 150-start milestone at Healesville on Friday, is trainer Jeff Gorgioski’s latest success story with veteran greyhounds.
In Part 2 of RSN race caller Victoria Shaw’s interview with Gorgioski, Shaw highlighted several of the Devon Meadows-based mentor’s notable performers to have enjoyed lengthy careers.
If Always Primed, a February ’18 son of SH Avatar and Paua To Escape, can bow out on a winning note on Friday, before he “hits the couch”, he’ll share top billing with Bugs Boloney, which won 25 of 131 starts, as Gorgioski’s most ‘winningest’ greyhound.
“I was hoping Always Primed could actually get to 26 wins and break ‘Bugsy’s’ record,” Jeff said.
“Even if he joins ‘Bugsy’ with 25 wins, he has beaten him in prize money. I’ve had a few other very nice greyhounds that have gotten to that 19-20-21 mark, but not 25.”
Prominent among Gorgioski’s veteran ‘honour roll’ are:
Always Primed: 150 starts: 24-29-23
Bugs Boloney: 131 starts; 25-25-18
Sole Elusion: 106 starts; 20-27-8
Beers On Brody: 113 starts; 16-16-15
Simply Smarter: 70 starts; 19-13-9
At present, along with Always Primed, Gorgioski’s racing team features talented littermates Alicah (3 from 25), Avianna (9 from 30), Marky The Sparky (1 from 7) and Sugar And Candy (7 from 32), along with Audenzia (6 from 49) and Shrinking Violet (3 from 16).
“I’ve got Sugar And Candy, Avianna, Alicah and Marky The Sparky. I trained the mother of them, which was Ayia Sophia, and the pups are doing very well at the moment,” he said.
“It’s very exciting. They are like kids. When you see the next generation coming through and once they start showing a bit of potential, you get super excited.
“When you see the next generation coming through and once they start showing a bit of potential, you get super excited.”
“They are the actual race dogs that are in the kennel and there are three more dogs that are in pre-training.
“There are two pups from Simply Smarter that have just come back from the breakers, and there is one dog there that belongs to Jordan Bovett, and he is a Sennachie pup, out of Elusive Anake, who I also trained.
“It is actually very good when you have trained the mothers of these pups and then their progeny starts coming through, that is extra exciting.”
Gorgioski has also enjoyed success with Always Primed’s littermates, Always There, Beers On Brody, Cal’s Girl, and Erupting Avatar.
“That whole line, they are out of the ‘Paua’ line, and they are just very good, hard chasing dogs,” Jeff said.
“Different lines seem to have different characteristics with dogs.
“With that particular line, Always Primed gets his head down each and every start, and just goes.
“Beers On Brody was the same, he was a lot faster than Always Primed, but he seemed to find a lot more trouble in his races. Sole Elusion was such a determined dog.
“I had Elusive Anake (Dyna Double One x Paua To Escape), she just came charging out of the boxes.
“They are all very fierce chasers and I’m good friends with the owner of those dogs, and he keeps sending them to me, and I am more than happy to train them for him.”
WATCH: Veteran Healesville specialist ALWAYS PRIMED (B1) was victorious at start 145 on November 11, clocking 17.00sec to bring up his 24th career win.
Gorgioski told Shaw he has forged a strong relationship with Always Primed’s South Australia-based breeder Jordan Bovett.
“Yes, he works in the mines in South Australia, both him and his wife Marie, they’ve got the little fella Boden, who is only one-year-old, and apart from work, there is not a hell of a lot to do over there, so he certainly gets very excited when he gets a chance to see his greyhounds racing,” he said.
“I think he just loves to watch them go around,” Gorgioski added with a laugh, when quizzed about Bovett’s finest moment with his greyhounds.
“Obviously, if he has had a decent punt on one of them, he is extra excited. He is a very good owner, in that he doesn’t get into your head.
“You know, you get some people, and they only want their dogs racing at certain tracks or whatever, he pretty much leaves it up to me. He said, ‘Jeff, you work it out, you see where they are best suited, and you race them down there.’
“Sole Elusion gave him a lot of pleasure, as did Elusive Anake. He loved that bitch. She used to just come out charging, and he had a lot of fun watching her go around.
“He has got some photos of her on his wall, and he has bred a litter of pups out of Elusive Anake. I’ve got one of the boys here at the moment that is in pre-training, and there is a couple of others that have already started racing and have won a couple of races.
“So that is also very exciting for him as well. Just watching the progeny from one of his race bitches and them throwing something. Just trying to improve certain lines and I think he does a very good job with the breeding side of things too.”
Pawnote: Always Primed (Box 6) is engaged at Healesville on Friday afternoon – Race 8, 1.27pm.
