Good luck to all runners

Trif 5,6,7

Ryan you really have to appreciate a small breeder like Peter and the way he has been able to carry his line along of both sides is remarkable for 30 odd years..

I also like the amount of Head Honcho saturated with almost 60 crosses back to Temlee ..with Blue Striker

3 crosses back to Peters Foundation brood Aussie Girl makes it that much more special ...

I wrote this for my breeding column in NGF a few months ago.

DB

WAY back in 1990, Victorian trainer Peter Akathiotis tried desperately to get his hands on a broodbitch called Aussie Girl.
The daughter of Chief Dingaan-Ima Card was owned out Warrnambool way by Angus McDonald.
Peter had bought a pup by Buka Sunset-Aussie Girl and named him Giant. He knew exactly how good he was.
Giant would win 19 of his 35 starts.
I wanted the mother, said Peter. But Angus wouldnt budge.
What the now late Angus McDonald did though was to repeat that mating between Buka Sunset and Aussie Girl and promised that if the litter produced a quality dog, Peter would get it to train.
It did.
And the combination of breeder-owner Angus McDonald and trainer Peter Akathiotis had a giant night when Master Giant won the 1992 Melbourne Cup.
He also won the Shepparton Cup, was second in the Ballarat Cup and fourth in the Adelaide Cup.
While Peter already had Giant in his kennel, he was later given by Angus McDonald a bitch called Aussie Sunrise.
She was not as good as Giant, or her younger full brother Master Giant, but from 40 race starts she won five and was placed 12 times.
What was important about her was that she became a city winner when successful at Olympic Park.
If Peter couldnt get Aussie Girl, he at least had Aussie Sunrise.
Now we can fast forward to 2013 and Peter Akathiotis, now 60, is still going about his business of training greyhounds from his house block at Reservoir in the Melbourne suburbs.
And he continues to win city races and take on the big boys still with the progeny of Aussie Girl albeit five generations later.
Peters latest hopeful is Blue Giant a son of Knocka Norris and Aussie Nicky the dam an outstanding race bitch and one intensely in-bred 3x3 to Aussie Sunrise yes, the same Aussie Sunrise that Peter raced to win at Olympic Park back in the 1990s.
Aussie Nicky is a daughter of Aussie Cruiser-Aussie Nerabella and both sire and dam have Aussie Sunrise as their second dam.
Like most anyone who breeds their own dogs together, Peter was roundly criticised for doing do.
People were laughing at me for doing it, admits Peter. But Im paying the bills and Ive only got myself to answer to.
It worked wonders.
Aussie Sunrise raced 107 times for 15 wins and 40 placings and $62,000 in stakes. She was a multiple Sandown and Meadows winner and got a middle distance.
She also raced in an era of superstars, and sometimes defeated, such greats as Bettys Angel, Runs House, Hot To Rumble, Pure Burst, Cool Effort, Elgrando Gold, Cromlah Bale etc etc etc.
Peters experiment of home breeding certainly worked.
I bred the father Aussie Cruiser and knew how good he was, said Peter.
Aussie Cruiser (Head Honcho-Aussie Tears) raced 43 times for seven wins and 13 placings. He too won at Sandown and The Meadows.
He was a pretty smart dog but injuries caught up with him, said Peter.
Aussie Nerabella, dam of Aussie Nicky, and granddam of current star Blue Giant, was a shortcourser who won three of 19 starts her wins coming at Geelong and Wangaratta.
Its interesting that Aussie Nerabella could only run 400 metres, said Peter. But her mating to Aussie Cruiser pro-duced strong dogs.
Peter has nurtured his bloodlines and reaped the rewards.
I was one of the first to ever use Gun Law Osti at stud, he said.
Aussie Sunrise went to Gun Law Osti to produce Aussie Pearl the third dam of Blue Giant.
Pearl raced 42 times for five wins and five placings and she was a Sandown winner.
Pearl was mated to the Wheeler star Lansley Bale (by English Derby winner Farloe Melody) to produce Aussie Nerabella.
Im always trying to improve my breed, he said.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt.
Peter is NEVER one to believe that train of thought that the broodbitch is 95 percent of the pedigree.
If that was the case, youd use any old mutt from down the road and expect a good broodbitch to produce and that is not the case, he said.
I believe you should always use good sires because they are good sires for a reason.
Having five generations now of the same female family has given Peter a great insight into the intricacies of breeding the greyhound.
The pups can vary greatly depending on the stud dog, he said.
Sometimes well get strength, other times we wont.
The damline generally throws great chase, but like all breeds well occasionally get one that wont go as hard as the rest.
Peter has a system for rearing his pups.
Most are sent to Len Ketelaar to be reared but every month Peter will bring some back to his house block to be handled.
Next month these are returned to the farm and a couple of others are brought back to the house block.
Aussie Nicky died recently but Peter has a bitch called Blue Lavros (Wheres Pedro-Aussie Belle) he plans to use in the future.
Aussie Sunrise is the fourth dam of Blue Lavros.
But for now, the Knocka Norris-Aussie Nicky litter has his attention and he has high hopes for Blue Giant.
He has just trialled over the short at The Meadows breaking the record, he said.
Im going to have a lot of fun with this litter for the next 18 months and then Im going overseas for a long holiday, he said.
Ill decide if I stay in the game when I come back.
Blue Giant is good enough to win a Group 1. Hes very strong.
It is an interesting aspect of this pedigree that Aussie Girl, the dam of the great Master Giant the Melbourne Cup winner, has as her second dam a bitch called Gift Card (Milos Charm-Cherish Windy).
Also interesting is that Ima Card, dam of Aussie Girl, is in-bred to Hamura Belle the second dam of legend broodbitch Byam Rose.
Gift Card, second dam of Aussie Girl, is also found along the direct damline of the legend sprinter Sandis Me Mum twice a winner of the Group 1 National Sprint.
Gift Card is the fourth dam of Sandis Me Mum.
Peter Akathiotis is reaping the benefits of all that great breeding even if people laughed at him in 2003 when he in-bred his bloodlines to produce the classy Aussie Nicky.
Hes had the last laugh naturally.

Probably a complete opposite to what most people want to see, but my selections