Seven years after leaving Malta, Creswick hobby greyhound trainer Stefano Cassar says he is "living the dream".
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And preparing a small team of dogs is a huge part of that dream.
Cassar, enjoyed immediate success in 2016 with the first greyhound he owned or trained, with Caco Potion , qualifying for the group 1 Bold Trease on Melbourne Cup night.
Together with his wife Pasqalia, who also holds a trainers licence, Cassar has six race dogs in work and he is taking aim at his second straight Horsham double on Saturday night with Deep Dive (race 2) and Big Don't Argue (race 8).
"We're on ten acres here, which would be impossible in Malta because it's so small. Malta is only 27 kilometres from one end to the other and densely populated," the 37-year-old said.
"We only have a small team. I work full-time as a mechanical engineer so my wife and I do the dogs together. I wouldn't be able to do it myself, and our two kids, one is almost four and the other is six months, enjoy the dogs too.
"The last time we raced at Horsham we took two dogs - Big Don't Argue and Mighty Marshall- and they both got up so it would be lovely if we could do it again this weekend."
The consistent Big Don't Argue has won two of his past three and eight from 30 overall, but will have to do everything right to upset Correy Grenfell's Bendigo Cup winner Yozo Bale - a best of night winner at Ballarat on Wednesday.
"He's going okay and he's got a good strike rate but he's a bit injury prone," Cassar said of Big Don't Argue.
"I've been impressed with the way he's won his past couple of races. He's really had to fight for it."
Earlier in the night, Cassar is hoping Deep Dive, which he also owns, can make it two from two after winning on debut at Warrnambool.
"She's only learning," Cassar said.
"She needs the outside because she tends to go off the track a bit when she gets out of the boxes, but she's drawn box three.
"She's quite strong so I think she'll be finishing off pretty well and she should be in the money somewhere," she said.