Ranger Beach’s toughness could be the golden edge

By Josh Spasaro

Ranger Beach showed his toughness after he was sidelined for five months in 2024, before coming back and consistently placing.

And, that was when the veteran four-year-old dog – now with 23 wins from 134 starts – showed his class to be among Rockhampton’s top chasers.

He will start from box four in the $15,600 QGOLD Final over 407 metres at the Central Queensland venue on Wednesday night.

It was after Ranger Beach returned when the Lakes Creek-based Andrew Suli was impressed with his desire to continue racing to the best of his ability.

Andrew Suli trains alongside his wife Kelly.

“We had a bit of drama with him. He got crook on us and was out for a little while not last year but the year before,” Andrew Suli said. 

“It was a virus and when he came back, his next (23) starts he was in the money (from 27 races) in the top three.

“He went from being a low-grade dog to winning Free For All races. He went right up through the grades.”

Ranger Beach then enjoyed an excellent 2025, saluting on 13 occasions.

But, again, it was the way he overcame adversity which impressed Andrew Suli.

“He was in a tussle with Play Dirty last year for dog of the year. Two different styles of dogs – one who got there because he won the races,” Andrew Suli said.

“Whereas, Ranger was a blue-collar working dog. He just turned up every week or twice a week without fail.

“We were contemplating retiring him because he wasn’t showing the Ranger of old. And, then one night he just clicked in a race. 

“This night I watched him, I thought ‘he’s on the way back’. The rest is history. He’s won (four) so far this year.”

Ranger Beach showed those tenacious qualities when he won his last start by half-a-length at Free For All level over 407 metres on Sunday night.

It was a gutsy effort to hang on while on the home straight in a small but quality five-dog field, crossing the line in 24.10 seconds.

“He’s getting a bit long in the tooth now. But, he keeps stepping up,” Andrew Suli said.

“He’s a hard dog to get past when he finds the bunny. He just keeps trying. Go through most of his wins, they’re by half-a-length and three-quarters of a length.

“He does just what he has to do to win. He’s not the fastest dog in the race (on Wednesday night). There are other dogs in the race with 23.3 and 23.4 second runs.

“His best winning time is 23.70 seconds. He just does what he has to do to win. I’ve had faster dogs than him, like Watego’s Beach and Airborne Beach.

“But, you go through his record in the past two years, it’s consistent racing. From the start of 2024 to now, he’s at the top of the pile.”

The Central Queensland conditioner added Ranger Beach was a clever starter.

“He’s probably the fastest box-speed dog in 'Rocky' in the first 20 yards. They’re quick out of the boxes, but there aren’t dogs quicker to the first mark,” Andrew Suli said.

“Before they get to the first corner, there aren’t too many like him. He comes out underneath the lids.

“(Sunday night) he was on the fence within two or three strides. He’s got to do that on Wednesday night, otherwise there are a lot of smart dogs there.”

Andrew Suli said he will know when Ranger Beach will want to retire from racing.

“He’ll tell us. But, he’s the type of dog where you give him a week off and you’ve lost him,” he said.

“He gets sour. He knows it’s race day. He loves to go in the trailer. You can’t keep him away from the trailer – he just loves to race. I wish I had a kennel full of him.”

Ranger Beach’s breeder and owner, Scott Duffy, said his chaser has always loved to run and echoed Andrew Suli’s thoughts that he is strong at box rise.

“He’s just one of those dogs. Even from when we bred him, he was always the first to run around the paddock and the first one to get back to the food bowl,” the Gold Coast-based Duffy said.

“He’s definitely a dog who’s just stayed sound. And, it’s very rare these days to get that many races.

“What Andrew tells me, he absolutely loves it. He prefers to run twice a week than once a week. He’s always keen to back up each race whatever the field is.

“He holds his line well out of the boxes. He’s not a dog who wants to crab across to the rail. He keeps his line out of the boxes.”

Andrew Suli said the QGOLD Final on Wednesday night was not short on talent.

Ranger Beach, Edgewood, Sing My Song, Riding Solo, Dream Design and Exploitation have all won in recent weeks.

“Out of all the QGOLD Finals, I think it’s probably one of the best I’ve seen here for competitiveness,” Andrew Suli said.

“Normally there are one or two that’ll stand out from the rest of the pack. But, out of the eight dogs, any one of them can win. They’re all handy dogs.”