Pat Derubeis is a busy bloke.
He’s a baker, so the working day starts at 1am. Back home by 9am, he then has to find time for not only a good sleep (when everyone else is awake) but also his passion; training greyhounds.
This punishing schedule was all but forgotten last week, however, when Pat scored his first city win, with Almapa Berisha, at Sandown.
The San Remo trainer was still riding the excitement when he spoke with RSN’s Gareth Hall, despite an absence of sleep since the win.
He’s been training for four years, but the family interest in greyhounds started almost 20 years ago. “We used to go to the races when we were kids, you know, as a family. We’d have dinner and meet people.”
“We had some tough times. I had two younger brothers that passed away and Dad thought we needed a change of luck, so he got the paper – the Greyhound Recorder – and that was the start really.”
“We got on to Drouin trainers Eddie and Mary Lieshout, bought our first brood bitch and few years later out first racing dog.”
How did Almapa Berisha come about? “I didn’t breed him. I leased the mum out to Peter Terry. He had the straw. When they were 14 weeks old I picked his brother out and Peter picked him out for me – got them reared and broken in and that was it.”
The brother – Almapa Sunshine – is Pat’s only other dog. “We’re only allowed to have two dogs at home, but if I had room I would have a thousand of them. I just love them. Just beautifully natured dogs.”
And for the future, Pat’s not hanging on to Melbourne Cup aspirations.
“Not really. I get the same thrill out of winning a tier 3 race at Cranbourne as I would for the Melbourne Cup. It doesn’t matter what the race is – when I put the lead on the dog I still get nerves.”
“For me it’s a bit of fun. I love meeting new people, but mostly I love the dogs. Doesn’t matter if he comes first or last, they still get a cheeseburger and two soft serves after the race.”
Almapa Berisha (Fernando Bale x Smart One) notched win number 12 from 37 starts, while he has now won more the $25,000 in prize money.
WATCH: Jason Adams caught up with Pat Derubeis after his first city win.
