By Duane Ranger (courtesy of Redcliffe Paceway)
Ron Sallis never expected Be My Rock to win the last race at Redcliffe Paceway last Thursday. In fact, the 62-year-old Wanora horseman was starting to lose all hope in the 5-year-old.
“He works brilliantly at home and then shows nothing on the track. This was a big surprise, especially from the widest front row draw,” Sallis said.
The punters shared Sallis’s sentiments sending Be My Rock out a $16, fifth favourite in the eight-horse field. Narissa McMullen got the Rocknroll Dance gelding home by 3.4 lengths with a 2:03 mile rate.
It was Be My Rock’s 10th win in 53 starts since making his debut third at Cambridge Raceway back in April 2019. He’s also placed 10 times and banked $80,635.
But Be My Rock has only had 23 starts for Sallis. He bought him from Western Australia in January.
“The way he works at home I thought he could win a few races, but the penny hasn’t dropped on race-day. He did run second against three of his stablemates at an Albion Park Trial recently (September 2). Hopefully he’s now turned the corner,” Sallis said.
If anyone knows standardbred horseflesh its Sallis. He was born into harness racing.
“Dad was from England and had never touched a horse until he came here and started working for Tom McDonald, who had horses. It all started from there. Dad became hooked like I did,
“He wasn’t a bad horseman either. He trained Gents Elect to win the Queensland Derby in the early 1980s. I was born in 1960 so I was well ensconced in the sport by then,” Sallis said.
Sallis was born in Cairns and educated at Trinity State High School in Mununda.
“Even though the records say I started training horses in the 1982-83 season, it was actually 1976. I was 16 when I got my license, I remember that well.
“I’ve always been a truck driver primarily throughout my life. It’s only in the past five years I’ve gone in full-time. Horses have always been my passion, my hobby, and my second job,” said Sallis, who works a team of 14 at his Wanora training complex, which comprises a 900m track.
Statistics from 1982 on say that Sallis has trained 852 winners from 6,158 starters. He’s also had 1.468 place-getters and banked $3.5 million in purses.
This season he has trained 38 winners from 239 starters ($309,608). His best season came in 2019-2020 when he won 76 races and $522,488.
Sallis has also driven more than 100 winners but these days prefers to leave it to regular drivers like McMullen.
“I’ve never trained a Group winner, but I’ve had some real memorable moments over the years. One memory I’ll never forget was winning at the Cairns Show with a horse named Armbro Fame.
“It was a race I’d wanted to win for years, being my hometown Show. It took a while but when I finally did win that race, I got a lot of satisfaction. So much so I’m still talking about it,” Sallis said.
Sallis came to Brisbane from Cairns in 1984 when he was 24. He and his wife Stacey have been at Wanora for the last 12 years and before that they were based at Bethania.
He said he enjoyed racing at Redcliffe Paceway.
“I’ve won quite a few races there and even though the track might be quite unique I enjoy lining more horses up at Redcliffe.
“The club is not only hard working, but they are also very friendly. They are progressive club that wants to do well.”
He said the best horse he had trained was the 1996 Samadhi 36-win gelding, Rayjen Sam (1:55.9 and $138,530).
“It’s hard to compare different horses from different eras, but I really liked that fella. I had him from day one, so that was very satisfying to watch him develop and go on to be a very nice pacer.
Sallis’s top 10 horses over the years have been (highest stakes earner first):
Comply Or Die (29 wins and $171,879); Rayjen Sam (36 wins and $138,530); Corey Odonohue (23 wins and $136,855); Arthur Lowe (14 wins and $88,534); Maybetothemax (13 wins and $87,928); Elms Creek (15 wins and $80,2015); Bitcoin (seven wins and $77,277); Springfield Spirit (10 wins and $72,439); Ruato Bay (12 wins and $69,763); Bob Gage (15 wins and $67,811).
The Ron Sallis trained and Narissa McMullen driven, Be My Rock (6), has them covered in the last race (R10) at Redcliffe Paceway last Thursday (September 7).
