Mobile rolling and Phil gets the green light!

Phil Ellery spends most of his time at harness racing meetings in Victoria on the “other side” of the starting gate – as the mobile barrier driver at meetings in southern areas of the State.

But there’s nothing he likes better than getting out of the mobile car and into the sulky and getting a winner, and that’s exactly what he did at Ballarat recently.

Ellery trained and drove the only horse in his stable, five-year old square-gaiter Rarity Rock (Skyvalley), to win at Ballarat (Apr 19) in the Betavet Trot.

It was not only the trotter’s maiden win after 17 starts, but Ellery’s first training success in two years and his first driving win in over five years.

“It was great!  I own him with my partner Trish and he’d been going pretty well, with a third at Bendigo the start before and runner up at Ballarat a couple of starts earlier, but it was lovely to get there with him,” Ellery said.

“I think with trotters they don’t all just run, and you’ve got to be pretty patient as I have been with him – and I think they are often better behaved if you can be patient.

“People think you’ve got out of it if you don’t race a horse for a while.  But it takes me 12 or 18 months to find out if they’re no good! I bring them in and put them out – I like to give then every chance, and sometimes they reward you!”

Ellery is based at the Harness Racing Training Centre at Cranbourne, but is a familiar face to participants as the mobile barrier driver at meetings across southern Victoria, including Melton, Warragul, Yarra Glen, Geelong and Cranbourne.

“I started out driving for the trials and then when Cranbourne got its own mobile and needed a driver, I started doing it at the races – that was 32 years ago, and I think in that time I’ve missed only about six Cranbourne meetings,” he said.

“The job is a bit of pressure in some ways, I guess, and people often ask about that – what’s it like to start the bigger races. But honestly, if it’s a Cranbourne maiden or a Cranbourne Cup, I don’t know who’s behind me.

“I never look behind, always in front.  You can lose your line if you don’t concentrate, so you just look at what you’re doing and there’s no pressure that way.”

Ellery got interested in harness racing as a teenager, when he would spend time at the stables of trainer Jim Beecroft.

“I was so lucky to learn from Jim.  He was one of the very best as far as horsemanship and shoeing goes. He was a lovely man and a patient man and just a worker,” he said.

“My dad had a few horses with the Beecrofts and they were friends of the family.  I would go up after school and school holidays and it progressed from there.”

Ellery, who enjoyed some good times with handy trotter Carlewis (10 wins) in the 1990s, said he always enjoyed having a horse in work.

“I’m a carpenter by trade, so my horses have always been something I’ve done for enjoyment. The Cranbourne centre just works perfectly for me in that way,” he said.

“It’s just fantastic there.  I still love my building and I love my horses and get to have them somewhere with great facilities and where there’s always someone around to have a coffee or tea with and a chat to.

“We’re breeding one or two again now, and there are lots of good people out there willing to help you. I think that’s part of the sport we all really enjoy.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink