Tony and Wilma Messina were supposed to be taking their daughter Linda out for her 50th birthday celebration next Friday night, but their greyhound Big Bernie has forced a venue change after qualifying for the Richmond Puppy Auction Classic.
Big Bernie has reached the $150,000 to the winner final after making the pace before finishing third to fastest qualifier Tank Keeping and He's A Pearl in last Friday's heats.
"Wilma and I and the rest of the family will now be celebrating Linda's birthday at the greyhound track,'' Tony said.
Big Bernie was sent out a $51 outsider in his Puppy Classic heat and was an $81 chance when he set a scorching pace before finishing second to Winsome Jet in 29.88 at Wentworth Park at his previous start.
Next Friday the Messinas' 34.5kg dog will be one of the "long shots" again and trainer Tony concedes: "He will need a bit of luck to beat this hot field, he might need a bit of scrimmaging behind him if he is to hang on and win.
"But he is improving all the time and is only just learning to run."
"Big Bernie clocked a fast 5.37 first section when he finished second at Wenty two starts back and has been coming out of the boxes quickly.''
Tony and Wilma Messina have bred almost all of their greyhounds since entering the sport six decades ago but bought Big Bernie for $16,000 at the Richmond Puppy Auction.
Big Bernie
"He was 11 months old and we just liked the look of him,'' Tony said.
"But I must admit I got a shock when I went to pick him up after the sale because when we weighed him he was a hefty 37 kilograms!''
Wife Wilma was responsible for Tony buying his first greyhound, as he had originally been keen to buy a pacer.
He recalled: "We used to go to Harold Park trots every Friday night and I wanted to get into harness racing.
"But Wilma refused to let me buy a horse and insisted that if I wanted to get involved with racing we should purchase a greyhound.
"My cousin Adam Lancia was a fairly successful greyhound trainer at the time so just over 50 years back we bought a pup from him.
"With Adam advising us on what to do, that pup, racing as Splinters, won races at Moss Vale and Goulburn and we have had greyhounds ever since."
"We became friends with the late Gary Ralph, who trained the brilliant Harold Park speedster Gold Spring, and he recommended we pay $2000 for a bitch called Russ's Delight from the late Max Burdekin, who won the 2008 Golden Easter Egg with Blazing Token."
"Russ's Delight won three races at Wentworth Park and we were on our way.''
Tony Messina was employed for 46 years by Caroma Bathroom Ware but retired 14 years ago, aged 62, to train greyhounds.
Kristen Alyssa gave him his biggest thrill in the sport when she defeated leading trainer Don McMillan's bitch Bralyn Maisie in a heat of the 2007 Group One National Futurity at Wentworth Park.
"Unfortunately Kristen Alyssa drew box five in the final and got knocked out of the race at the first turn, while Bralyn Maisie jumped from box one and took out the big race,'' Messina said.
Tony and Wilma rate Kristen Alyssa their best ever, but that belief might be put to the test if Big Bernie can pull off an upset and lead all the way at Richmond next Friday night.
