Bill Buccilli has a message for people thinking about getting involved in greyhound racing – ‘just do it.’
Bill and cousin Serge make up the See The Dream Syndicate, which bred and owns star litter brothers Bewildering and Extreme Magic, two of the big players in Saturday night’s opening of the $1.3 million 2018 Australian Cup Carnival at The Meadows.
Bewildering is the TAB favourite at $3.00 to take out the $100,000 to-the-winner Group 1 Temlee (525m), while Extreme Magic is also the punters’ elect at $2.70 in the $75,000 to-the-winner Group 1 Rookie Rebel (600m).
Speaking to Jack Heverin on SEN’s the Sporting Capital, Buccilli was asked what advice he would give someone wanting to enter the sport.
“If it’s something you’re thinking about just do it,” Bucilli said. “It really is a load of fun. Yeah sure, you’ve got to have the ones (greyhounds) that win. We’ve had greyhounds that haven’t made the mark as well, and if you find it’s getting a bit too expensive then get a group of friends together and syndicate a greyhound. It’s a heap of fun. To watch your greyhound racing live is just fantastic.”
The Buccillis are currently racing six greyhounds and have a few young litters that are too young to race.
“As well as Bewildering and Extreme Magic, we also own Azkaban (last weekend’s Victoria Cup winner), litter brothers Riveting and (Cranbourne Cup finalist) Reckoning, and a young one that’s coming along called Tantalising.”
Buccilli is eagerly looking forward to seeing how his charges fare in their respective invitational events on Saturday, although he admits to being surprised at their favouritism.
“To be honest, it’s a bit surprising that they are favourites because they haven’t had a lot of starts of late, and particularly with the calibre of dogs that are in both fields. You’ve got the reigning Melbourne Cup winner Aston Dee Bee (in the Temlee) and Chasin’ Crackers, who ran second in the Melbourne Cup, lining up in the Rookie Rebel. But with a bit of luck they’ll be in the race.”
“They are (both) exciting greyhounds and are great to watch. Bewildering is the more established of the two. He has tasted group glory, winning the Silver Bullet, Speed Star and Warrnambool Classic. Extreme Magic hasn’t had the taste of winning in the group glory stakes, but he actually ran third in the Rookie Rebel last year,” he said.
The Buccillis best greyhound was 2013 Melbourne Cup winner, Black Magic Opal, who won 35 races from 48 starts and earned $586,000 in prize money.
However Bill, a real estate agent in Melbourne’s western suburbs, insists his involvement in greyhound racing is not all about the money.
“You rely on prize money to keep it going but we just enjoy the racing and the thrill of winning so it’s definitely more of a hobby for us,” he said.
Admission into the 60th Australian Cup Carnival, which will be run across the next three Saturday nights at The Meadows, is FREE. Be on course on any of the three nights to experience loads of entertainment on offer and the chance to share in $60,000 in cash and prizes.
