FROM European tour operator to leading Brisbane trainer. It has been some turnaround for Robert Heathcote. From driving coaches to conditioning thoroughbreds, such as today's Ipswich Cup contender Our Lukas, reports Craig Young of the Sydney Morning Herald.His report adds: "How I got into horse racing was a big fluke," Heathcote said yesterday. "My brother Wayne had horses with a number of trainers around Australia, and I ended up his racing manager."Robert Heathcote reckons

FROM European tour operator to leading Brisbane trainer. It has been some turnaround for Robert Heathcote. From driving coaches to conditioning thoroughbreds, such as today's Ipswich Cup contender Our Lukas, reports Craig Young of the Sydney Morning Herald.

His report adds: "How I got into horse racing was a big fluke," Heathcote said yesterday. "My brother Wayne had horses with a number of trainers around Australia, and I ended up his racing manager."

Robert Heathcote reckons a few trainers didn't seem to be doing the right thing. Strange, considering he'll tell you he'd never had anything to do with horses before taking on the role. At the time, Heathcote's brother was well known as an international tribal art dealer. Wayne Heathcote now lives in Britain and is no longer involved in horses but the brother has 52 in work at Eagle Farm, having taken out a trainer's licence in 1997.

"To be honest, I never knew how to put a horse collar on," Heathcote said. "The second horse I ever raced won a $75,000 race. I thought, 'How easy is this.' I was hook, line and sinker. Never did I imagine it entailed getting up at 3am every morning."

The fortunate part for Heathcote, 49, has been the fact, "I've always had a handy knack of having a handy horse in the stable. I'm not sure if it's been by luck or by design," he said. "I've got to thank my owners. I've got some very loyal owners, been with me a long time. I was just saying to an owner yesterday, the thing I've learnt about being a successful trainer is you've got to be a good loser. You've got to take the punches. You get a lot of punches in this game."

Heathcote reckons about "seven or eight years ago I had my quietest time".

"It was a lean time," he recalled. "It is very easy to get depressed. Bad horses, bad luck, bad rides, it doesn't help but you've just got to work harder.

"I made some commercial decisions, replenished the stable. Nothing comes easy in this game."