Breeding Services call Luckie Karabitsakos
Racing Record
Starts 40 This included 12 group races in which he won every heat in bon
Wins 21
2nd 6
3rd 1
PrizemoneyWin $628,435
Best Times At Tracks
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Wheels In Motion For Hard Style Rico At Stud
LUCKIE Karabitsakos took days to be able to wipe the smile off his face recently and it all happened through an hour and a half phone call.
David Brasch02 March 2021
LUCKIE Karabitsakos took days to be able to wipe the smile off his face recently and it all happened through an hour and a half phone call.
That call came from Paul Wheeler who was in search of semen from Luckie's superstar sprinter Hard Style Rico (Bella Infrared-Bella Rico by Stagger).
Rico, of course, is the Group 1 Melbourne Cup winner and Sandown (28.91) and Shepparton (24.77) track record breaker and the apple of Luckie's eye.
“Paul rang to buy three straws to Rico and we spoke on the phone for an hour and a half,” said Luckie.
“It was amazing what Paul taught me and shared with me in that time.
“And he is planning on buying more straws to Rico in the very near future.”
Hard Style Rico retired to stud immediately after his Melbourne Cup victory which came in track record time at Sandown and Luckie admits retirement was the least of his thoughts at that moment.
“But a lot of people had been chasing straws for him,” he said.
“No, I didn't expect to retire the dog and to be honest I have felt Rico was only just hitting his straps. I think he could have got even better than he was at Melbourne Cup time.”
But Luckie is having no second thoughts.
“It took a while to get everything underway for his stud career but in his first full month at stud, in January, he served 12 bitches,” he said.
“That was a great result for a young, unproven stud dog just off the track.
“And, the demand has continued. In fact, we are getting constant inquiries from around the country for him.”
Recent collections and storage now gives Luckie and his dog plenty of semen available to breeders.
“And the number of quality bitches coming to him, including Manila Knight's mother Angie Rocks, is something else,” said Luckie.
“Rico certainly has settled into his new job.”
Rico has become a Facebook star.
“We've put a video up on his Facebook page and it shows just what a beautiful dog he is,” said Luckie.
Luckie is still “chuffed” that the Wheeler family has chased semen for his superstar.
“To get that phone call from Paul was a real plus for this dog,” said Luckie.
“He will get every chance to succeed with the sort of bitches the Wheeler family will use to him.”
LUCKIE’S CLASSIC SILVER CHIEF STYLE
Proud owner/trainer/breeder Luckie Karabitsakos is hopeful home-grown excitement machine Hard Style Rico can continue his meteoric rise to stardom in Saturday night’s heats of the Group 1 Feikuai Greyhounds Silver Chief (525m).
Hard Style Rico has started only nine times but has created a huge impression in notching five victories, announcing himself as a serious Silver Chief threat with his last two wins.
On Ballarat Cup night, the son of Bella Infrared and Bella Rico clocked a near-record 24.77s, just .02s outside Shima Shine’s 450m benchmark, upstaging Ballarat Cup winner Western Envoy (24.85s) in the process.
He then completed his Silver Chief preparation last Saturday, clocking a best of night 29.67s in the Ballarat To The Meadows Final, his third win from four visits to The Meadows.
WATCH: Hard Style Rico’s win at Ballarat from box seven.
“He’s going super. I couldn’t be happier,” said Luckie Karabitsakos.
“When I saw his sectionals at Ballarat I thought he’d really stepped it up.
“He’s learning and getting more confidence with every race. He’s really letting go now and his times and results are showing that.
“I whelped him down, reared him, broke him in – I’ve done just about everything with him – and he’s been showing what he can do from day dot.
“When I was pre-training him the times he was running were phenomenal. At his first box-to-box at Sandown he ran 5.05, 18.70. That was at 15 months of age.”
Hard Style Rico will step up to Group company for the first time on Saturday when he’s confronted with box five as TAB’s $2 favourite in the second of eight cut-throat Silver Chief heats.
The lightly-raced prodigy is $9 in all-in betting, behind series heavyweights Shima Shine, the $5 favourite, Melbourne Cup runner-up Western Envoy and litter brothers Simon Told Helen and Who Told Stevie, all at $6.
“I’ve only been in the game five or six years so these are all milestones and massive achievements for me,” said 38-year-old Pearcedale-based Karabitsakos.
“It’s a dream to have a dog like this fall into my lap. But I’m trying to stay as humble as I can and keep the fun in it. I’m lucky to have a good team behind me.
“When he ran 29.79 at his first start at The Meadows I starting looking ahead at the Silver Chief but being a young dog he had to prove himself and he deserves a crack at it. That will be the plan; to target these age-restricted races.
“There are a couple of handy dogs in his heat – there’s always going to be in races like this – so he’ll have to do everything right. If he does, he’ll be a good contestant.”
Hard Style Rico isn’t the first success story the Karabitsakos family have enjoyed with his line, with his mother, Bella Rico, being a litter sister to Black Mumbo, which Luckie’s brother, Anthony, guided to victory in the Group 1 Harrison-Dawson in 2017.
“My dad, Frank, was in greyhounds, for 30 or 40 years, so I’ve been around them all my life,” Luckie explained.
“But when dad passed away, he left a couple of dogs behind so I decided to help my brother out.
“Bella Rico is Black Mumbo’s sister and I spoke to Anthony about which sire to go to and he suggested an outcross, so I got a Bella Infrared straw.
“There were eight in the litter and I’ve also got Red Light Rico, which has only had six starts and he’s run 29.62s at Sandown, so he’s got a motor himself.
“Bella Rico has had a second litter to Barcia Bale. There’s eight in the litter and they’re about ten weeks old and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do.”
Breeding Services
SHEPPARTON CUP HEATS: RICO’S RECORD
The “records are meant to be broken” quote has been around sport’s merry-go-round for what seems an eternity.
But “life is true to form”, as legendary US Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz once said, and a longstanding 450-metre track record went by the wayside at Shepparton tonight.
The 24.82sec mark was first set by Slater, who rode the crest of a wave in December 2006. And it was equalled just over five years later by Cape Hawke in January 2012.
Enter young tyro Hard Style Rico (Jan ’18 Bella Infrared x Bella Rico) who lowered that standard in a heat of the Group 2 Shepparton Cup.
Bred, owned and trained by Luckie Karabitsakos, Hard Style Rico clocked a mind-boggling 24.77sec with a dazzling performance in Heat 2.
A three-time G1 finalist, Hard Style Rico ($1.80F) returned to his brilliant best defeating Get Go Boy ($9.50) by five and three-quarter lengths, with G2 Bendigo Cup winner Crimson Vixen ($2.20) a further quarter of a length away third.
It was Hard Style Rico’s ninth win from 16 starts – and the record didn’t come as a complete surprise. He was the fastest qualifier in the G1 Silver Chief and G1 National Derby, and was a last start finalist in the G1 Australian Cup.
However, Hard Style Rico won’t have it all his own way in Saturday night’s $47,000-to-the-winner final.
He’ll have to contend with comeback king Jebrynah ($1.04F), who registered a sizzling 24.91sec defeating G1 Australian Cup finalist Scatterbox ($8.40) by four and three-quarter lengths in Heat 4.
Trained by Rocky Crisafi, Jebrynah – a winner of 20 races from 32 starts – has only had three starts back since toppling Whiskey Riot in a G1 Maturity Classic heat at The Meadows in July last year. (Jebrynah fractured a sesamoid bone in his left front foot in that win – but still managed to record 29.80sec.)
And speaking of Whiskey Riot… The dual G1 winner didn’t seem at his peak, but his class and courage prevailed in Heat 5.
Let it be said, you don’t win a G1 Melbourne Cup and G1 Temlee, and finish third in a G1 Australian Cup without class and intestinal fortitude.
Trained by Anthony Azzopardi, Whiskey Riot ($1.30F) came from third early to run down the pilot Benchester ($9.60) by just under one length in 25.02sec. It was his 21st win from 43 starts, with stakes totalling almost $800,000.
Other heat winners were: Rothwell Gal (25.11sec), Brace And Bits (25.21) and Revelation (25.25).