Training newbie strikes in a flash

New Victorian harness racing trainer Ben Pell didn’t need to wait long to record his all-important first training win – four days, to be precise!

Pell prepared four-year-old mare Rocknfury (Rocknroll Heaven), a horse he part-owns with his cousin Drew Gray, to her maiden win at Shepparton (Apr 19) at his very first start as a trainer.

“I don’t think I could improve on my strike rate at this stage!  It was a massive thrill, and we were over the moon,” Pell laughed.

“I went off to Shepparton thinking if we could run a place, I would be happy – and she went one better, so it was fantastic.”

But while Pell is just starting out in the training game, he has served a lifetime apprenticeship in racing, as the son of Central Victorian greyhound trainers Tom and Bev Pell, who prepare a successful kennel at Toolleen with Ben’s brother Daniel.

“A lot of late nights and long days when I was a kid kind of put me off greyhounds.  I have raced greyhounds, but it’s a bit ironic I found my way into the trots, which is basically the same in that way,” he said.

“I absolutely love harness racing – from the time I first became involved I had a real passion for it.  There is no better feeling than sitting behind a horse in fastwork, there’s just nothing like it.”

Pell, who works as a supervisor for Metricon Homes, was always on the periphery of the sport, growing up good mates with Leichardt trainer David Van Ryn.

“Dad trained greyhounds for Dave’s dad Cory (a noted square-gaiting specialist in the 1970s-1990s), and so I was always interested in it, and I loved the horses,” Pell said.

“But my first proper involvement was about 15 years ago when Jason Donohoe (the son of Qld trainer-driver Alan) was working for me when they were based down here.  I was keen to get involved and Jason had a friend with a horse for sale, with a foal at foot, so I bought them.”

The foal turned out to be Allies Mate (McArdle) who went on to win seven races from 38 starts, including a heat and final of the Gordon Rothacker Memorial Championship.

“That was a nice way to start, I have to admit!  Alan trained Allies Mate and I was lucky enough to do a lot of work alongside him with the horses while he was in Bendigo.  He taught me a lot and my interest really just evolved from there.”

Donohue moved back to Queensland about five years ago and sold his property to Pell’s nephew Drew. Although Drew was not involved in harness racing, the property became the base for trainer Shaun McNaulty.

“I went and got my stable hand licence and helped Shaun on and off – more on than off really, because he had a fair few in work!  I bought Rocknfury for Shaun to train, but he decided to move back to the family farm at Kooreh, near St Arnaud.

“He suggested I should get my licence myself and I was under a fair bit of pressure, between Shaun and Dave, (trainer) Trevor Patching who’s next door, and (farrier) Tony Dillon, who I’ve known for a long time.  All of them were telling me to get my own licence so I could train my horses myself.”

As well as Rocknfury, Pell has interests in promising three-year-old Slice of Cheddar (Betterthancheddar), trained by the McNaulty brothers, which had seven starts for a win and two placings in his 2yo season.

Pell said he had no regrets about stepping up to take out his training ticket.

“Watching the horse win first up win was like poetry in motion and obviously not always going to be that easy, but you take your wins when you can get them!  Mostly I’m just loving the friendships with all of the people who helped me and gave me the push to go the next step,” he said.

“As well as all those guys who’ve given me a hand along the way, Drew helps me out and his youngest son Anthony comes up and feeds them for me at the stables, so I’m lucky and we’re all just having fun.”

For complete race results, click here.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink