After opening his career with five wins from eight starts, promising youngster Sizzle Fly is set to continue on his winning way at Bendigo on Saturday night, according to owner/trainer Dominic Crisafi.

Sizzle Fly, a son of the great Fernando Bale, has finished runner-up in each of his three defeats, the most recent when beaten at $1.04 at Sale; however Crisafi expects him to bounce back when he makes his Bendigo debut in race 5 over 425m.

“He’s a pretty good pup and it’s a good change to go to the races thinking you’re going to win,” said Crisafi.

“But last start I thought he was going to win by a mile and he hurt himself in the run, so it doesn’t always turn out how you think it will.”

Sizzle Fly reeled off five straight victories, at four different tracks, before sustaining a minor injury at his shock last start defeat and an unfamiliar venue and wide draw in seven hold no fears for his upbeat trainer.

“He’s had a couple of setbacks in his preparation and he’s back from a quick break but he’s ready to go,” Crisafi said.

“I always trial them before they race at a track and Sizzle Fly went 23.88s first look at Bendigo, which was best of the day. I was quite happy with that and you’d presume that on race night with a clear run he’ll go quicker.

“I’m not too fussed about the box draw. He runs straight and he’s normally pretty quick out but even if he misses it he’s got great muster to the first peg.”

Crisafi is a relative newcomer to training in his own right but he’s continuing a proud family tradition, following in the footsteps of his successful father Rocky, who’s readily available to offer advice.

“That doesn’t mean I always listen to him,” Dominic laughed.

“I’ve only been training by myself for a couple of years but Dad is part and parcel of it and he’s trained thousands of winners so it’s obviously good to be able to talk to him about different things.

“I’ve had Sizzle Fly since he was three months old. There were four dogs in the litter for sale and I bought two and Dad bought two. I reared Sizzle Fly and broke him in and knew he could run from the start.

“He hasn’t done much wrong. I blame myself for his first defeat because he was a reserve and I did things I wouldn’t normally have done with him before a race. The second time he ran second in 24.80s at Sale and then he hurt himself last start.

“He’s not overly strong but I think he will run ‘500’ and The Meadows should suit him. I’m hoping he’ll be up to country cups standard because he’s only going to improve.”