Champion greyhound El Galo is continuing to chase the Australian prizemoney record. 29449
By Stuart Teather
LEADING greyhound trainer Jason Thompson has put any thoughts of retiring his champion dog El Galo on the backburner as he chases the elusive all-time Australian prizemoney record.
The Pearcedale trainer is just under $40,000 shy of Rapid Journey’s record of $530,995, with El Galo poised on $491,340.
El Galo looked set to change that on Wednesday night after the News went to print, heading into the final of the Warrnambool Cup a $2.50 favourite.
He led all the way through his heat, crossing the line as the second-fastest winner for the night in a time of 25.12 seconds, a length ahead of second-placed Fidel Bale, a Graeme Yate-trained dog.
A win at Warrnambool would throw an extra $28,000 into the coffers and Thompson said he had planned out where the extra earnings would come from.
“He’s going to go to Sandown for a $10,000 special event, then he’ll have two weeks off and be back to Sandown for a new race they’ve got called the Dawson,” he said.
“It would get (the prize-money record), definitely. That’s what we’re going for – trying to anyway. We’ll get through those races and assess things after that.”
Thompson said as long as El Galo was running well, there was no reason to stop racing him.
“As long as he’s going good – and he is now – we’ll keep him going and hopefully try and get that record.”
El Galo is now more than three-and-a-half years old and is something of a veteran on the greyhound racing circuit, but Thompson said that did little to dim his confidence.
“With a dog like him it doesn’t matter what race you’re in, you’re going in there with a good chance,” he said. “There’s not too many of his ability that race much beyond the race he’s at now. To be doing what he’s doing, he’s doing a good job.”
