Trevor Rowe hungry for another Cairns Cup

By Glenn Davis

Former butcher Trevor Rowe has had a taste of Cairns Cup glory and hopes to bring home the bacon again with a two-pronged attack in the Far North Queensland feature on Saturday.

Trevor Rowe was training solo when he won his hometown Cairns Cup with Chateau Dettori in 2016 before entering a training partnership with his son, Peter, several years ago.

While the pair are yet to win a hometown feature, Trevor Rowe is hopeful either Alabama Moonlight or Ella Te Ama can take out the $150,000 Cairns Cup over 2100 metres.

Alabama Moonlight produced an eye-catching run to finish fourth to The Driller in last week’s Cairns Amateur Cup while Ella Te Ama is coming off a last-start 11th to the Matt Kropp-trained Leg Drive in the Townsville Cup on August 8.

“Alabama Moonlight is having his first go over the distance, but his last run was very good as he was held up for a run at the 500 metre mark,” Trevor Rowe said.

“With a clear run, he would have been in the finish.”

Trevor Rowe is reluctant to separate his pair, with Alabama Moonlight to be ridden by Nathan Thomas while Krysten Swaffer partners Ella Te Ama.

“They are two different types of horses, so I wouldn’t like to separate them,” he said.

“Ella Te Ama likes to race on pace while Alabama Moonlight gets back in the field.”

Trevor Rowe, who turns 69 in December, has 30 horses in work in his Cairns stable.

His first pay packet after leaving school was $10 when he worked for a local butcher.

“I was a butcher for 30 years and I retired when I turned 50,” he said.

“I started in the butcher shop as a clean-up boy when I was 14 and my first pay packet was $10.

“I worked as a butcher for a long time when the kids were little.”

One of his children, Peter, who he now trains alongside, was very ill during his early years.

“Peter was really ill as a young kid when he was diagnosed with a lung problem,” Trevor Rowe said.

“He had a horseshoe-shaped lung, which was very rare.

“We were given two options, cut off half his lung or encourage him to do a lot of sport, including swimming, which we did, and it allowed his lung to grow back naturally.”

Trevor Rowe has lived in Cairns his entire life and has won just about every country Cup in North Queensland except the Townsville Cup.

“I’ve tried several times to win the Cairns Cup and I finally cracked it with Chateau Dettori,” he said.