Devon Meadows trainer Jeff Gorgioski has forged a reputation for longevity with his greyhounds and Always Primed is certainly no exception to that rule.
This Friday afternoon at Healesville, Always Primed will make his 150th and final race appearance.
In the first instalment of a two-part interview, RSN race-caller Victoria Shaw spoke to Gorgioski, discovering that a successful Melbourne restaurateur, a husband and wife team who work in the mining industry in South Australia, and formative preparation from one of Australia’s powerhouse kennels are all part of the Always Primed story.
Always Primed, a February 2018 son of SH Avatar and Paua To Escape, heads into his swansong appearance having won 24 of his 149 starts, with 29 seconds and 23 thirds, earning $46,463 in prizemoney.
“Yeah, he has been a fantastic greyhound for myself and my wife (Carolyn),” Gorgioski told Shaw.
“He is a very good, honest chaser, and every time he goes out there, you know he is going to be doing his best. He has been great.”
Always Primed had his first two race starts – back in February 2020, when Coronavirus was erupting worldwide – for prominent Melbourne restaurateur and greyhound racing fan, David Chiu.
“I met David when I bought two pups from the same litter, Beers On Brody and Cal’s Girl,” Gorgioski explained.
“We bought them at three months of age and the breeder, Jordan Bovett, organized a night at Sandown where we all had dinner together, when the pups were only about four or five months old. We got to know each other back then, and we have had a relationship since.”
After Always Primed finished unplaced in his first two appearances for Chiu at Healesville, he opened his account at his first start under Gorgioski’s guidance, when scoring over 311m at Cranbourne on April 8, 2020.
“I was absolutely stoked with his first win,” Gorgioski recalled.
“After I got the dog from David, one thing I always do is get the dogs checked and make sure physically they are all good.
“He had a couple of small niggly injuries that we had to work through. Once we got that right, I gave him one trial at Cranbourne and he went around the 18 ‘dead’ mark, which is what I expected him to do at his first race start.
“He went even better than that. I think he went about 17.80-odd. So, I was thrilled with his run. So was David, because he originally bought the dogs, not so much to train himself, but to be able to have a bit of fun watching them.
“The Daillys reared the dogs for David and pre-trained them and broke the dog in, but they just weren’t quite up to their standards. So David asked me, and it has been fantastic ever since.
“I don’t have a problem with racing dogs if it is a Tier-3 level. It’s more about assessing what the dog’s best assets are and then I take it from there and try and race them appropriately.”
Gorgioski wasted little time identifying Healesville as suiting Always Primed’s strengths and it’s a fitting venue for his curtain call, as 94 of his career starts and 17 of his victories have come at the straight track.
“Yes, the dog has got a fair bit of speed and that’s what I found was his best asset,” Gorgioski offered.
“He is a quite reliable sort of box dog and at the time we had Cranbourne and the straight at Healesville over 300m, so I thought there is no point pushing this dog into distances that he wasn’t comfortable with.
“As long as we were able to keep him over the short, he was always going to put his best foot forward, which is what he has done his whole career.
“Since Cranbourne shut down, he has been predominantly at Healesville, because there aren’t too many short course tracks in Victoria, but it is all about assessing each dog, and assessing what their best asset is and then trying to race them over an appropriate distance that suits their best assets.”
In addition to following a ‘horses for courses’ philosophy in placing his greyhounds to maximise their strengths, Gorgioski is meticulous in monitoring and maintaining their fitness and well-being.
“There is a set of boxes I tick before every dog goes to the racetrack,” he explained.
“I have a ‘muscle man’ go over all my greyhounds after each run to make sure they are sound.
“A dog that is sore, is just like yourself. I treat them like athletes and at the end of the day, no-one is going to perform at their best if something is not quite right.
“They are on a good diet. I get blood tests done to make sure that internally they are all feeling good. Sometimes they can get little viruses and it shows in their performance.
“If the dogs are feeling good, then they are going to be going good on the track. I think that is what it comes down to at the end.”
Pawnote: Always Primed (Box 6) is engaged at Healesville on Friday afternoon – Race 8, 1.27pm.
(In Part 2 of Shaw’s interview, to appear tomorrow, Gorgioski discusses his success with veteran greyhounds and breeder Jordan Bovett’s line)
