James Wanless has been involved in training gallopers in recent years, with some success from his base in Maryborough.
The 36-year-old retired from thoroughbred racing at the end of 2022 and returned to harness racing late last year.
He prepared his first running race winner on Friday afternoon since the 2015-16 campaign as Ideal Desire justified her short quote to gain more than 1660 meters at Albion Park.
The five-year-old mare has been in James’ care for her last six starts since moving from Graham Dwyer’s barn.
When James was looking for a pacer to get back into the game, top rider Dwyer suggested Ideal Desire would be a nice option and things went from there.
“Graham said she did better at Albion Park compared to Redcliffe, so it’s hard to take away from what he said,” James said.
“He’s a good guy, Graham. I just called him and he said, ‘I’ve probably got one for you.’
“I didn’t even look the horse up or anything, I just took his word for it because I had never heard of the horse before.
“I just said, don’t worry. She’s good, she’s just an easy horse and she’s very straightforward.
“We have some paddocks here and stuff. I think she likes being in the paddock, which they told me she would, so that was good. She’s quite easy-going.”
Premier Brisbane leader Nathan Dawson rode Ideal Desire to victory on Friday by almost five meters.
James is the son of Leigh Wanless, who has a long history in both racing codes as a driver, trainer and owner.
James trained gallopers in 2021 and 2022 and produced four winners on the national and provincial circuit.
Before his brief stint in the galloping code, James successfully rode and trained pacers, as did many members of his famous family in his younger years.
Alongside his father Leigh, James’ grandfather Merv trained champion pacer Lucky Creed, while Ron Wanless is also a celebrated owner in both codes.
Leigh is still preparing a small team of thoroughbreds and took runners to Nanango on Saturday afternoon.
James smiles at being with the pacers again.
“It’s just a hobby,” he said.
“It runs in the family. You kind of go back to it. It’s been in our family for a while, so it’s good to continue with it.”
“Even though we only have one or two horses, it’s still good to be somewhat associated with them.
“It’s a bit of a talking point in our family too. The old boys love it, my dad loves to talk about it.”
James and Leigh, who are 80 years old, prepare their teams from the same ground just outside Maryborough.
The harness trainer will soon make the long drive back to Albion Park in search of another victory with Ideal Desire.
“It would just be the same kind of race she won recently that she would start again,” he said.
“She’s done her best and she’s a hard-trying little thing and that’s all you can really ask for.
“On her own, she’s competitive and that’s all I wanted.”
Through Jordan Gerrans for Racing Queensland
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