Pat Sofra and his Melbourne Cup runner Messi. 56588 Picture: Stewart Chambers
CRANBOURNE fruiterer Pat Sofra is on the cusp of a true underdog victory in tonight’s Melbourne Cup final at Sandown Park.
The long-time greyhound owner/breeder and his beloved Messi – the first dog he has ever trained himself – are the clear sentimental favourites for Australia’s most prestigious race.
Both Sofra and Messi will be in elite company tonight, needing to overcome some of the country’s leading trainers – including Graeme Bate, Jason Thompson, Andrea Dailly and Robert Britton – and an odds-on favourite in El Grand Senor to claim the $175,000 winner’s purse.
But, as 46-year-old Sofra noted last Friday, they have already overcome considerable adversity to be in with a chance tonight.
Sofra, who regards Messi as “a part of the family”, thought his promising sprinter had run his last race earlier this year, when he badly injured a wrist during a race.
X-rays later revealed four chips in the wrist, which also required surgery to patch up the ligaments at the joint.
Sofra says he feared Messi would not recover, but some encouraging words from Cranbourne vet Des Fagan gave him hope.
“Six to eight weeks after the operation, I said to Des, ‘I don’t think we’re gunna get this dog back (to racing)’,” Sofra reflected.
“But he said to me, ‘just persevere – it’s gunna be a lot of work, but you’ll get him back’.”
That was when Sofra decided to keep Messi at home, rather than giving him back to his then-trainer Peter Craig.
“We decided that the dog was going to need a lot of care and would miss us too much, so we said we’ll give it a go,” he said.
Pat and his wife, Connie, nursed Messi back to fitness, often waking before sunrise to take him for a walk or a swim at the beach.
Last Thursday’s Melbourne Cup heat win was Messi’s fourth race back from a seven-month lay-off, and Sofra was as surprised as anyone with the result.
“It was a horrific injury,” he said.
“We can’t even flex his wrist now, and it’ll take him three or four days to stop limping after he runs.
“So to come back from that and contest a Melbourne Cup is amazing. He’s such a tough animal.”
Sofra has bred and owned plenty of greyhounds – including Messi’s great grandmother, grandmother and mother – over the years, but says he knew there was “something special about him from the minute we broke him in”.
That’s why Sofra, a huge sports fan, named the dog after the world’s greatest soccer player, Argentina’s Lionel Messi.
He says it’s a rare privilege to have a runner in the Cup, let alone one that he has cared for since birth.
The good news spread quickly across the large Sofra family last week, with a cousin in Sweden ringing to congratulate them on Friday morning.
The family will have a strong presence at Sandown Park tonight, and Sofra believes his little champ will be hard to beat, despite drawing one of the awkward middle boxes.
“Box five won’t faze him, because he’s a very competitive dog and he loves to have other dogs around him,” he said.
“Last week was his first run in about two-and-a-half weeks, so he’ll improve this week.
“He’s got a good chance.”
