Well-known and widely respected harness racing participant Phillip Ellery enjoyed a rewarding night at Cranbourne on Saturday, training a winner with seven-year-old trotter Rarity Rock.
The gelding scored his fourth career victory when taking out the Kruzey Trot over 1609 metres, with Chris Alford in the sulky.
Alford was able to find the front early and maintained a strong, controlled tempo, leading for the majority of the race before Rarity Rock pulled clear to win by 7.9 metres.
Ellery, a long-time hobby trainer, has a small team in work, with Rarity Rock currently his only race-ready horse and a number of younger horses still coming through the breaking-in process. He was also working in his role as a mobile driver at the Cranbourne meeting.
“It was a little bit nerve racking as I was working as well and I wanted everything to go right as he has galloped his last couple of starts. It was exciting”
The Cranbourne victory marked Ellery’s first Saturday night training success in almost 30 years, since Carlewis won at Moonee Valley in 1997.
“Years ago, I had a really nice trotter, Carlewis. He won a couple of Saturday night races. He won on a Saturday and then won on the Wednesday at Mooney Valley… it was a fantastic.”
Ellery was happy to place his trust in Chris Alford’s judgement when it came to the drive.
“Well, you can’t give Chris (Alford) instructions. He’s done too much in his time, but it was more, see how he comes out and you’ll know whether to ask him for more, which he exactly what he did. He’s a horse you have to drive the whole time, he wanders around a bit.”
A carpenter by trade, Ellery has balanced his working life with harness racing for decades and continues to train on a small scale.
“I’ve always been a hobby trainer with one or two horses, which is what I really enjoy.”
Ellery has also spent more than three decades working as a mobile driver, becoming a familiar and trusted figure at race meetings across Victoria.
“I got offered the job at Cranbourne as the mobile driver and took that up 33 years ago and I’ve been doing that ever since. I’ve got more clubs to do and now I’ll probably do most races in the state, I’d say, of any mobile driver.”
“I work Melton, Cranbourne, share Geelong, and I used to do Yarra Valley and share Warragul.”
Ellery, a man of many talents, began his working life as a carpenter at the age of 15 and has since added hobby trainer, mobile driver and farrier to his résumé.
“I’ve been a carpenter since I left school and I’ve always loved that and I still do today.”
Harness racing remains a major part of Ellery’s life, largely due to the people within the industry.
“I enjoy all the people, you know. It’s lots of friends and lots of acquaintances in the harness world, so I think I’m very lucky that I got it and have been able to hold onto it”, Ellery said of his role in harness racing.
Now 71, Ellery continues to lead a busy and active lifestyle within the sport.
“I am lucky. Not everybody’s had the luck with their health and things. I do jobs around the stables here and there for people in the training centre (Cranbourne Harness Racing Training Complex), I have my mobile job and I’m still able to train horses.”
“It’s a good mix for me. And, you know, it’s one of those things your family can go along too”
“My partner and daughter will come with me to the races, so it’s good to be able to do that.”
Ellery and Rarity Rock are set to line up again at Ballarat on Thursday.
The Cranbourne meeting also delivered other highlights, with Marg, Paddy and Jason Lee combining for a double with star trotters Jilliby Ballerini and Jilliby Dreamlover. Jilliby Ballerini added further polish by breaking the track record.
Chris Svanosio also prepared a double on the program, with Louie Lou I and Freight Shaker scoring in their respective races. The weekend proved memorable for Svanosio, who reached the milestone of 500 Australian training wins on Sunday at Maryborough.
PHOTOS: SOPHIE JEFFERIES
