Racing identity did a bit of everything
JOHN Rowan is being remembered as a successful businessman as well as a versatile participant in the racing industry after his death late last week.
Rowan, a former horse and greyhound trainer in FNQ, passed away last Thursday night following a heart attack, just weeks out from his 79th birthday.
The Gordonvale Cup winner as a horseman, Rowan was also a top businessman, running a successful plumbing business around the region.
It was not until he retired he stepped into training thoroughbred horses around the north and produced a number of quality horses, to go along with training greyhounds in his earlier days.
Mt Isa trainer Jay Morris, who is originally from Gordonvale, remembered his uncle, Rowan, as a hobby trainer that loved a drink with his mates down at Cannon Park.
“Racing has always been in the family, but he took up the training game late in life, after previously riding as kid,” Morris said.
“My grandad was a trainer for years, so John would have grown up with horses.
“He probably excelled as a greyhound trainer more than horses, but he only ever had a handful of horses, keeping busy in retirement.”
Morris thanked Allyson Ballard for her and her family’s support of his mother’s brother over the past few years.
“She was a big hand to him,” Morris said.
Rowan lived at Gordonvale until last week.
Although he was approaching 80 years of age, Morris described his uncle as still sprightly over the past few years.
In a story in the Cairns Post over a decade ago, Rowan said the only regret he had after Great Portent won the 2009 Gordonvale Cup was that he did not have anything on the $21 roughie.
In 2013, Rowan was vocal about a shortage of riders threatening the Far Northern racing industry with trainers forced to withdraw horses from meetings because there was no one to ride them.
Cairns trainer Peter Rowe thanked Rowan for having the faith in him to give him his first horse to train a few years ago.
“We had so much fun and I was honoured to train for him,” Rowe said.
“You’ll be greatly missed JR and it was a pleasure to know you and I hope the pink and yellow continue on in your honour.”
In recent years, Rowan has owned horses such as Go Jabba, Fast Chips, Capitanear and Vivi Granda.
Go Jabba, a 10-career start maiden gelding, is nominated to go around on Thursday at Cairns, trained by Alwyn Bailey, and wears the pink and yellow silks that Rowan used in his training days.