Maximum Damage's trainer Clint Colaiacovo believes that greyhound has the potential to become his highest prizemoney earner following the dog's runaway win in Thursday night's Wagga to Wentworth Park Final.
Wagga-based Colaiacovo and his partner Jess Fothergill's best performers have been Run Fast Maximus, who won 47 races and $96,540 along with Agent Chevrolet, who won 10 races in succession in 2023 and '24 on the way to earning $46,000 through winning 21 of 47 starts.
But Maximum Damage took his bank roll to $23,550 by notching his eighth win in 32 starts on Thursday night and while Colaiacovo rarely visits Sydney, he concedes he will need to bring the dog back to WP.
"Maximum Damage had not even trialled or raced at Wenty before Thursday night but he is a real 520 metre dog and does a lot of things right in his races, he is always getting to the line strongly,'' Colaiacovo said.
"Jess and I have 22 greyhounds in training on our property at Glenfield Park, near Wagga, but if our local track closes we will move back to Victoria.
"We relocated to Wagga from Toolleen, in Victoria, in 2020, and my heart has always been in NSW.
"And to win any race at Wentworth Park is always a special thrill.
"As a kid growing up in Wagga and later in Mildura, Wentworth Park was always the pinnacle of greyhound racing as far as I was concerned.
"The race which grabbed my attention the most was the Magic Maiden, the big maiden race held during the Golden Easter Egg carnival.
"The top trainers usually had several unraced promising young dogs starting their careers in that event and it was so exciting to watch and always hard to win.''
Colaiacovo with Maximum Damage
Last Thursday's drive to Sydney was small potatoes for Colaiacovo as he has made several 18 hour round trips to race at Broken Hill where he has won races with Run Fast Maximus and Maximum Damage.
Colaiacovo, about to turn 40, went to primary school in Wagga and during school holidays would go to nearby Leeton where he would stay with his grandparents, earning pocket money exercising greyhounds being trained by his grandfather James Ingram.
"That's what got me interested in greyhound racing and while my grand-dad was not a highly successful trainer and had no champions, his love of the sport and the fun I could see him having rubbed off on me.''
Colaiacovo is among the state's most successful trainers, landing 50 winners this year after notching 115 first placings in 2025.
His benchmark year was 2024 when he was awarded GRNSW's 100 Club prize at the Greyhound of the Year presentation night.
