It was a moment that arrived quietly … and then was gone with the wind.
It came in the third race at Ipswich on Wednesday when Les Ross sent out his last runner as a trainer … thirty-six years after he saddled his first winner back on April 25, 1988.
“It wasn’t planned that way,” explained Ross. “I was supposed to have one in tomorrow (at Gatton), but this is just the way things fell because the one for tomorrow tied up a bit, so we didn’t bother accepting with him. So, yeah, Mishani Spartan was my last runner.”
Ross’s success story with Mike Crooks’ Mishani Enterprises owned horses, most notably achieved with their two-year-old runners consistently over a period of the many years in which they have consistently been the dominant force on the juvenile racing scene in Queensland, fills the record books and stands to the credit of both Ross and Crooks in terms of both the formulation and their implementation of a successful, strategic gameplan.
It might be a sometimes overused phrase, but Ross’s departure from the scene really does mark the end of an era.
“The handover (to incoming Mishani trainer Donna Stanbridge) is ninety percent complete,” added Ross. “The transition has basically already been done. Donna got her first winner (at Goondiwindi) last Saturday which was good.
“I’ve said to her … people can say all they want but, if you keep producing winners you are alright. At the end of the day that is that is what it is all about.”
In a week’s time Ross will be in hospital undergoing prostate surgery in the latest round of his battle with cancer, a situation which he continues to deal with in a positive manner.
Just as he helped set up the Mishani two-year-olds battle-plan each year, starting a full six months before the start of each new season, Ross has drafted his own long-term plan for a happy retirement.
‘After the operation, it will take about three months before I am fully recovered, but I’ve got a heap of friends that are having birthdays, so I’m going to do all of them ‘till about Christmas. Then, after Christmas, I’ll get serious about moving around,” said Ross.
“I really want to travel now and see the world. I’ve been lucky enough to have saved up a few dollars so it will be nice to spend a bit. I’m not going to go away on one sole trip. I’m going to go for a month … come back again … and then go for another month … and then, if I run out of chips or get bored, I can always, hopefully, turn my hand back to training, but I don’t really want to do that.
“I’ll be around though. Every time I get back from travelling, I’ll probably come to the races because that’s where my mates are … but, like I said, I mostly just want to travel and have a good time.
“It is always good to have something to look forward to.
“That’s the plan!”