Milestone moment a welcome one for Vince

Melbourne harness racing trainer Vince Vallelonga admits he doesn’t keep track of milestones, so when his 500th training victory arrived, it took him by surprise.

However, the achievement was nonetheless a welcome one for Vallelonga, who is based at Bolinda, 50 kilometres north of Melbourne, with Watching Over Us (He’s Watching) securing the special win in the Four-Year-Old and Older Maiden Pace at Kilmore last Thursday night (Jan 23).

“I don’t look at those things much, but someone did tell me that I was getting close a while ago,” he said.

“It was good to get the win and he probably deserved it after running second at Melton at his previous start. Greg (Sugars) drove him in town, so I then decided to leave him on.”

Watching Over Us has now had 10 starts for a win and two second placings.

Vallelonga has got off to a flying start in the new season with his talented three-year-old pacer The Last Trip (Poster Boy) scoring at Melton on January 16.

“We were doing eight, but I’ve tipped a few youngsters out and I haven’t had all that many go to the races. I have big wraps on The Last Trip. He’s a little immature, but I think next season we’ll see the best of him,” he said.

“Another showing promise is a 2yo by Rocknroll Dance. He dashed up really well the other day and is now having a three-week break.”

Vallelonga is toying with the idea of taking The Last Trip to Menangle shortly.

“There’s a sprint race on February 8 that looks suitable and if he shaped up okay, I’d probably look at having a go in the Derby heats in March,” he said.

Vallelonga has certainly enjoyed his time in the sport, having prepared some outstanding pacers over the years.

“There’s no doubt that Major Crocker (30 wins) is the best I’ve ever had. He won the 3yo Breeders Crown along with an InterDominion Consolation over in the west. He was also runner-up in my hometown Mildura Pacing Cup. He ended up in the US,” he said.

“Stunning Grin won 16 races for us and another good one was Manuka Man. He won 13 but we didn’t see the best of him because he broke down. We brought Chilled Desire out of the sales and won 12 with her before she went to America.”

Growing up on a grape-growing property on the outskirts of Mildura, owned by his parents Joe and Anne, Vallelonga was always going to get involved in harness racing.

“Dad died a few years ago and Mum still lives on the property. She has some well-known brothers in Neil and Frank Cavallaro who have been with horses for years,” he said.

“I first sat in a sulky when I was 13 or 14. It was up at Rochester where Neil was and I think Frank was there as well at the time. I got my licence two years later.

“I would jog around the headlands of dad’s vineyard and then not far away Howard O’Neill had a small track. I eventually put in a bigger track when a neighbor across the road said I could use his land.”

In later years, working horses was a hobby as Vallelonga operated a busy Mildura pizza restaurant, and also had stints driving Holidaymaker and Greyhound coaches.

An opportunity to get into the industry full-time came when prominent owners Eric and Heather Anderson offered him the role as their private trainer. The couple set up a property at Euston, near Robinvale, and later purchased land at Mildura near the Murray River.

When Vallelonga went out on his own, he trained at Hattah and Yaapeet. In the following years, he was stable foreman for Clayton Tonkin’s late dad Peter at Ballarat; then spent nearly four years with Lance Justice before teaming up with Sam Golino at Riddells Creek.

“We moved just down the road to Bolinda – it will be 14 years here in June. We built the horse training property from scratch and my partner Elizabeth and I just love it,” Vallelonga said.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink