Les Ross discusses his cancer battle as he plans to hit the road for national karaoke tour

Larrikin Queensland trainer Les Ross, recently retired after having a four-hour operation to have his prostate removed following a cancer diagnosis, is coming to a pub or club near you.

Known as the “Mishani man” for his association with colourful owner Mike Crooks who has the band of Mishani horses in the Sunshine State, Ross is now throwing himself headfirst into his passion of singing karaoke.

Racenet ventured to Millmerran, 210km west of Brisbane, with Ross in his Winnebago as he crooned at the The Sundowner Hotel last Friday night.

“I’ve got to go back to the doctor in December for another blood test to make sure they have got rid of all the cancer,” Ross told Racenet.

“But then, after Christmas, I will be packing up and going around Australia in the Winnebago.

“I’ll go to South Australia for a couple of weeks, head across to Western Australia and up to Broome, then across to Darwin and come back down through middle of Australia.

“Hopefully I can get a few karaoke gigs along the way and meet a few interesting people.”

• ‘If only I was a Wiggle’: Dolan chasing another miracle in Caulfield Cup

Ross said he is happy and healthy and has no immediate plans to resume his training career which started decades ago in outback Cunnamulla before he moved to country Miles and then to the big smoke in Brisbane.

He said he misses racing people – but not the early hours, endless fatigue and tough grind of preparing horses.

“I woke up early the other morning and I looked out the window and it was pouring rain. I rang the (Brisbane) track supervisor and a couple of lads at the track and said ‘I’m going back to bed’,” Ross laughed.

• First The Everest, then the world: King eyes conquests

“I don’t miss the early mornings, I do miss the people.

“In racing, it’s nice when you win a race.

“I got the same buzz when I won a race at Miles or Cunnamulla as I did if I won a race at Eagle Farm.

“Training horses is a hell of a lot harder than doing karaoke.

“Karaoke is a lot more rewarding when you see people having fun.”

Earlier this year, Ross opened up to Racenet about how he had been unable to read or write for the majority of his long training career.

He has now taught himself to read, but only to a limited extent.

• Why the Buck stops with Waller in Caulfield Cup

For instance, he sends mobile phone text messages via voice dictation.

It also adds another layer of difficulty to singing on the karaoke circuit – not that it worries him.

“I listen to a lot of music and I know the tunes pretty well most of the time,” Ross said.

“But it’s funny when you watch the computer screen and the words to the songs come up, people tell me that it’s a lot different to what I am singing sometimes.

“I can read OK, but I am a terrible speller.

“I have bluffed my way through life by learning to read newspapers and race form.”

Originally published as Les Ross discusses his cancer battle as he plans to hit the road for national karaoke tour