GREYHOUNDS
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday October 30, 2009
Blackie's white-hotHe's dabbled with gallopers and spent nine years at Harold Park trots as the course detective but Mario Pavlin is now fully immersed in greyhound racing.Based at Orangeville, some 10 minutes from Camden, Pavlin has the talented Boston Blackie engaged in Saturday's group 1 Vic Peters Classic, and the son of Solve The Puzzle, despite his relative inexperience, has already proven to be a bargain buy."I took a redundancy at Telstra a couple of years back and decided to start training full-time," the humble owner-trainer said. "I had a dog called Cosmic Energy with Ruth King which was only limited in ability but I won a race at Wentworth Park after I took over training and it's been all systems go since then."The relatively inexperienced Boston Blackie has drawn box seven in the $50,000-to-the-winner race and Pavlin, despite the dog's smart heat and semi-final wins, was shell-shocked after drawing away from the rails."He's just desperate to find the inside and when it came time for me to select a box, only the seven and eight were left ... both were no help," Pavlin added. "Another factor is that he really 'switches on' when he gets to the track and the long wait in the kennels [for race eight] is a concern."In his qualifying heat win, Boston Blackie posted a slashing 29.83 seconds and ran the fastest time of the four semi-final winners on Saturday (30.11).Pavlin secured Boston Blackie and litter sister Madam Zen for just $1800 in a package deal from breeders Michelle and Gary Peel and while his task at Wentworth Park is by no means easy, Boston Blackie has the talent to get the job done.At 27 months of age, time is on Boston Blackie's side to be tested against the best and his time in the sun will come.Pavlin €“ ever a realist €“ is just hoping for the best in the Vic Peters. His snare is fit and well, ready to go. The planets, however, will need to align at 9.48pm in order for him to snare this group 1 but this fellow is a real talent.Lismore bonanzaThe Lismore Workers Club Cup is NSW's richest provincial race and the club has secured a Thursday night (November 5) to showcase the big event. The four cup heats on Sunday have attracted quality nominations with 2008 cup winner Whirly Storm back to defend her crown.Whirly Storm takes on Darren McDonald's Danny Phantom (the winner of 22 races) in heat four as well as local hope Azure Allegro, which has won seven from 10 at Lismore and has high speed. And then there is the widely travelled Excel Like Time (box six). The draw has favoured Danny Phantom (box one) but he will be afforded no mistakes.Heat one has Jai Alation, Bogie Bomber, Kallan Bale and Ipswich auction series winner Rail Raider clashing while heat two includes youngster Robo Raptor and Ipswich Cup finalist Paddy Bell. Speedy local Club Sports (box one) takes on Orara Flash €“ a 29.97 winner at Albion Park €“ and veteran Black Ruler, the winner of 21 races, in heat three.The Lismore Workers Club Cup offers $30,000 to the winner as well a free service to Tony Lockett's high-profile stud dog Collision.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
