When promising three-year-old pacer Master Leon scored a last-stride win at the Luxbet Racing Centre in Launceston on Sunday night it gave his harness racing trainer-driver Brian Rose his first winner in almost 12 years.
Master Leon produced a powerful finish from well back in the field to swamp the leaders and score an impressive win in a race for non-winners over 2200 metres.
It ended a long drought for Rose who had to dig deep into the memory bank to remember the last time he wandered into the winner's enclosure which was in 2004 when Max Design saluted in a C2-C3 in Launceston with Rose in the sulky.
"It's been a long time between wins but I'm only a hobby trainer-driver and as long as I've got one that is competitive I'm happy," Rose said.
"I think Master Leon has a bit of ability so I'm hoping it won't be another 12 years before my next win."
Rose, 62 has been a hobby trainer for over 30 years and he has only ever had one horse in work at any one time.
But when he first started out in the harness racing industry in Tasmania he tasted success at the beginning of his journey by training Nickorado to win the 1986 Tasmanian Derby.
"Nickorado virtually got me going in the industry and he was a real good horse. I drove him to win a heat of the Derby but I handed the reins to Tony Petersen for the big race and we got the money."
"I got started in this game when by Dad (the late Max Rose) bought two mares in foal and Nickorado was one of the foals and I've been involved in one way or another ever since."
Rose suffered a heart attack when he was only 42 and that set him back a peg or two but he was back at work with Forestry Tasmania six months later and not long after he was back in the sulky.
"The heart attack was a bit of a setback but I soldiered on until I had to take a redundancy (from Forestry Tasmania) about five years ago so now I just potter around with my one horse and that's enough to keep me interested."
Rose purchased Master Leon from well-known Tasmanian standardbred breeder Geoff Madden.
"I bought a mare (Rich Beginnings) in foal from Geoff (Madden) as part of a package deal and this colt is the result. He is her fifth foal to race but only two have won.
Rose no longer lives on a large property but instead resides at Branxholm on a medium size building block that can accommodate, at best, a couple of stables so he has to take his horses elsewhere to train.
"When we were on the (parents') farm there were plenty of paddocks and about three different types of training tracks but these days I have to take the horse to Scottsdale for fast work or to a mate's property nearby."
"I stay involved in harness racing because I love it. With costs what they are these days I could only ever afford to have one in work at any time but this win will keep us going for a while."
Rose says Master Leon will most likely have his next start in Launceston on Sunday week.
Peter Staples