Stasiak Lavish In Praise For Straight Track Cup Winner

LAVISH Pedro landed Wednesday's Murray Bridge Straight Track Cup in dashing style for veteran South Australian trainer Richard Stasiak.

LAVISH Pedro landed Wednesday's Murray Bridge Straight Track Cup (350m) to give veteran South Australian dog man Richard Stasiak two starts, two wins, two track records and a Cup victory with his new acquisition.

The son of Where's Pedro and Twist Me Over ran 18.66 to break his own track record of 18.76 when scoring first up in a Cup heat last week.

He downed Sweet On Me and Fly For Fun in a high quality finale.

Stasiak's mate Ozzie Chegia sourced Lavish Pedro from NSW trainer Garry Edwards on behalf of Richard.

“Ozzie and I have been friends for ages,” said Richard.

“He knew I was looking for a dog and when this bloke came up for sale, he contacted Garry and I bought him.

“And I got him at a fairly reasonable price too.”

Lavish Pedro arrived from NSW “perfectly sound and in good nick” according to Richard who sent him into the heats of the Straight Track Cup without a look at the track.

“I felt a bit sorry for Ben Rawlings,” said Richard.

“His bitch Sweet On Me ran the track record of 18.78 but held it for only 20 minutes or so.”

Richard had no qualms about sending Lavish Pedro to Murray Bridge's straight without a look at the track.

“He's a big tall dog and a long striding one as well so the straight track was going to suit him,” he said.

Immediate plans are for Lavish Pedro to target a couple of upcoming short course heats and finals before stepping up to 500 metre racing.

“He has a lot of early pace and I watched a few of his replays when he led by four or five lengths at Wentworth Park but was just run down,” said Richard.

“He might be a dog who needs to be built up to more distance.”

Stasiak has been training “on and off” in South Australia for more than 30 years.

“I had a top class stayer in 1978 called Lignite who won seven or eight in a row at one time, and did the same again not long after,” he said.

Lignite made the final of the 1978 National Distance Championship won by Dusty Ginny in Hobart.

Richard has also had good success in recent times with Gawler Gold Cup finalist Fantastic Bronx, among others.

Latest News Articles