In recent months Ron Alcock has trained litter brothers and sister Here’s Roary, Sherlock and Here’s Skeeta to win six races and fill 19 placings at Wentworth Park.
Nothing unusual in that except the trio were bred, raised and broken in by Ron and his wife Sue, extending a run of owner-trainer success they have enjoyed for more than three decades.
Ron is especially proud of the fact that he has no big money clients buying dogs for him but invariably breeds and later trains his stock on five acres at Belimbla Park, near The Oaks, which boasts its own 300m straight track.
“My greyhounds run similar times every start and barring injury, they race to a ripe old age,’’ Alcock said.
Alcock grew up with greyhounds, and from the age of eight was assisting his father Fred train smart greyhounds like Palomino Miss, Black Riot, Lapsy and Lee Moss.
“Dad loved racing on the old Richmond straight track and while in primary school I would accompany him and the dogs there every Saturday, where there were four maiden races in the morning, break for lunch, and hold another 10 events in the Afternoon,’’ Alcock recalled.
“My father also liked the Wollongong track with its noisy lure and I would back up with him there most Monday nights.
“Fred owned the top class sprinter Big Redsun and the good stayer Cobber’s Star which were trained for him by Leah and Hec Watt of Zoom Top fame and I used to earn pocket money cleaning up the greyhound yards on their property After school.
“Big Redsun, who went to stud in America, was a brother of Best Val, the dam of Golden Twinkle, and they came from breeder Winnie Waters.
“After leaving school I became a carpenter but wanted to obtain one of the Waters breed greyhounds and bought a seven-month-old pup out of Spider Bite, who had been produced by Nimble Twinkle, one of the best Waters bitches.
“I bought the pup from the late Pat Murray and named her Classy Spider.’’
It’s history now that Classy Spider became one of the sport’s all-time greats, winning the 1990 NSW Greyhound of the Year award and winning 14 races in succession, including eight straight at Wentworth Park.
“Eight in a row at Wenty equalled the record set by Roman Earl, the joint 1966 NSW Greyhound of the Year and while Classy Spider was the queen of Wentworth Park she was equally as good on big tracks,’’ Alcock said.
“Harold Park was closed when she was racing but I remember her beating the outstanding sprinter Farmer Wilson in a Christmas Gift final on the roomy CESSNOCK track.
“When I started training her I used to put Classy Spider on a walking machine but then she couldn’t run 500 metres so I switched to exercising her on the roads and she became a lot stronger.
“Classy Spider might have also become the 1991 NSW Greyhound of the Year but in the biggest disappointment I have encountered she was nobbled to stop her winning a race at Wentworth Park.
“Dr Reg Hoskins, the track’s veterinary surgeon, said she had been doped with a blood pressure pill which made her so sick she could not race for eight months.
“I got her back to the track but even though she won three more races at Wentworth Park she was never the same - she was six lengths slower.’’
Classy Spider remains one of the fastest beginners seen in Sydney but Alcock has rarely had a slow starter in his kennel.
“I work hard on their box manners when I am breaking them in,’’ he said.
“Originally Classy Spider was a shocking beginner but I corrected this by leaving the door open when I put her in the boxes and shoving her backside with my hand as the lids lifted.
“Unfortunately Classy Spider had just one litter, to the Irish import GROVE WHISPER, but the pups were beset by thyroid problems and were only ordinary.
“Then when she was in whelp a second time the pups died inside her and that poisoned her.’’
Ron and Sue Alcock have rarely been without at least one handy greyhound and in recent times won five races at Wentworth Park with Snowsill.
“Before that I had trained Rev Set, which won 11 of 22 starts and who was a litter brother to the champion sprinter Rokoko,’’ Ron said.
“I could have picked Rokoko as a pup but he was black and white and I’ve always preferred fawn dogs so I chose Rev Set instead.’’
Considering his family background Alcock has no hesitation in plumping for the late 60s all distance champion Zoom Top, which he would pat when he cleaned up the Watt family’s property, as the best greyhound he has seen.
Alcock, now 64, retired from carpentry five years ago to care for the 30 greyhounds on his property, which currently includes a team of seven racers.
