On the day he announced his TAB Million Dollar Chase champion Handsome Prince had run his final race, Peter Lagogiane revealed the story behind how the greyhound ended up in his kennel, and the moment he was brought to tears on the way to Wentworth Park the night his dog won the world’s richest greyhound race.
Lagogiane broke the news on Tuesday evening after the former Tasmanian greyhound suffered a back muscle injury after trialling at Richmond, in preparation for the defence of the title he won in 2020.
Handsome Prince’s racing career ended with 11 wins and 8 placings from just 28 starts and $1,036,068 in prizemoney, the sixth highest earner in the sport’s history.
“He’ll have his chance at a stud career now, and will live the life of luxury,” Lagogiane said.
Handsome Prince only raced 13 times for Lagogiane after coming from Tasmania, for five wins, the most recent at what was now his final start, a blistering 22.13s win over 400m at Bulli last month.
Handsome Prince arrived at Lagogiane’s kennel around six weeks before the Million Dollar Chase last September, and failed to qualify for the semi finals through the Richmond Regional series.
He then went to Wentworth Park, won a prelude, then his semi-final, then came out “LUCKY box 7” and led from the first turn to beat Xerri and Tommy Shelby in the $1 million to the winner grand final.
“We didn’t buy him to win the Million Dollar Chase,” Lagogiane said. “We were scouting for dogs for Shak (owner Shakeel Latimer).
“I was given a list of five dogs to look at. I said buy that one and pointed to the name Handsome Prince. I said how can you not buy that dog? I didn’t look at the form, I never saw him run. That’s’ the truth.
“It was obvious,” Lagogiane said, referring to the omen of the name after he had spent two years in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates between 2014 and 2016, working as the greyhound trainer for the Crown Prince.
Handsome Prince exited the same box as Lagogiane’s 2018 Chase winner Mystic Riot in the grand final last October, sent to the boxes as a 20-1 chance, with even the normally confident trainer, not convinced he could win.
The lead was crucial for Handsome Prince, but all the talk about the race surrounding the charge to the first turn between speedsters Shadow Mist, Flying Ricciardo, and Tommy Shelby, and an expectation that who led would win.
“I went in with no nerves. I thought it is what it is, we’ve made the Million Dollar final that’s an achievement in itself,” he said.
“I’ll be honest I didn’t think we could lead. I said to Shakeel the only chance he’s got is if he leads and he said do you think he can lead? I said no, there’s too much pace around him.”
It’s history now that the speedy trio all flew out, but in between them was Handsome Prince who pushed through, got the lead around the first turn, and on the back of a super second section, was not going to be caught.
“What won it for him was his second section, he’s got a great second section. We went to Sandown to trial for the Melbourne Cup the next month and he ran 29.13s, and ran one of the fastest ever second sections (18.49s). Only four dogs have ever gone near that time, and one of them is champion Fernando Bale.”
He dislocated a toe in the Cup heats the following week and would be off the scene for four months, and constant injuries have meant Lagogiane has battled to get the dog back to his best.
But back to that night and a moment for Peter and his wife JODIE on the way to Wentworth Park.
“We had a death in the family that week, and to be honest the race was far from the most important thing,” Lagogiane explained speaking of the passing of their close friend Gillian Wilcox.
“She was dear to our hearts …. Granma Gill my kids called her.
“She and her husband Mark were neighbours of JODIE’s. They watched JODIE grow up. They are more than family to us, more than blood. I got to know Mark when I got with JODIE, and I watched him train dogs and learnt a lot from him.
“JODIE and Gill were close. They would get on the phone and be on the phone for 2 hours.
“She said to us before she left us: “it’s alright I’m always going to be there for you, and every time you see a double rainbow, it’s me looking out for you.”
“That night we were driving to Wenty, JODIE was behind me, and we were on Richmond Road about to turn onto the M2 and there it was – a double rainbow.
“I had tears streaming down my face and JODIE rang me in tears saying: “Look can you see it, can you see it, she’s watching over us.”
“It was an incredible moment in time. I said right then to JODIE: “Let’s go and do this.””
