John Borham to continue comeback from cancer at Queanbeyan's Boxing Day meeting

The Queanbeyan hobby trainer had been diagnosed with throat cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.

It was a period in which he was forced to take a step back from racing to focus on his health.

Throughout it all, however, a desire to return to training was fuelling his cancer battle.

It's a battle Borham eventually won and it didn't take long for the trainer to turn his attention back to the racing industry.

"I always thought I'd come back," Borham said. "You've got to have something to look forward to when you're going through that, I always looked forward to the day I came back to racing.

"It's something I like doing very much, having a horse or two to play around with so it was something to look forward to."

Borham's journey back to the racetrack takes him to his home course, with Coba Bree to contest a maiden in Queanbeyan's annual Boxing Day meeting.

The mare was a $600 purchase in the September online sales and marks the first step in the trainer's return to racing.

Coba Bree stepped out in Cooma earlier this month - Borham's first runner since May 2020 - and he's optimistic she will develop into a handy racehorse.

While the industry is all about volume in the city, Borham prefers to maintain a boutique stable to give each horse the care and attention it deserves.

Having overcome a serious health condition, he is starting small and won't rush to add a second or third horse to his operation.

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It's just the way he likes it and ensures training remains a hobby for Borham in semi-retirement.

"I trained on and off for about 20 years," he said. "I usually only had two or three horses, I didn't want to get too big. There are a lot of problems when you're looking after a big stable.

"At the moment I've got one horse, I might end up with two eventually.

"It's been terrific being back. It's been 18 months or so since I've had a horse, it's something I really missed. I got Coba Bree at the end of the winter, I've taken my time and enjoyed it a lot."

While acknowledging he has overcome a number of challenges over the past two years, Borham still considers himself lucky.

While he is enjoying a new lease on life, others are not so fortunate.

He knows many cancer sufferers experience a much tougher time and some do not make it.

It's something Borham witnessed first hand as he shared his journey with the late Neville Layt.

Their relationship dated back decades and Borham looked up to the legend of Queanbeyan racing.

Layt died after a long battle with cancer in April 2021 and Borham said it was tough to watch in hospital.

"Neville's cancer had spread further and he was older than me," Borham said. "Mine, even though it was an advanced cancer, was mild compared to what others went through, others didn't make it.

"I used to see Neville every day at the track, it was sad to see him in that condition in hospital. He was very sick, what the poor fella was going through wasn't very pleasant. It was nice to have a chat with him and he seemed to enjoy having a chat."

The Boxing Day meeting comes as Queanbeyan Race Club chief executive Brendan Comyn outlined his vision for the racecourse.

With a number of Canberra trainers expressing interest in following Nick Olive's footsteps and jumping across the border, the first priority is building new stables to accommodate a looming increase in horses.

Works to upgrade the irrigation at the track will also be carried out next year, with Comyn confident the future is bright for Queanbeyan racecourse.

"We're looking at utilising some of the land around the site to create extra stables," Comyn said.

"Once we have extra stables we'll be able to support bigger opportunities for more Canberra horses or other trainers that want to start off at Queanbeyan."

Having defeated cancer, Borham hopes to watch his home track blossom.

For now, however, he's focused on having some fun with Coba Bree.

"She's no champion but she's going alright," Borham said. "We'll see what happens when we get over a bit more ground.

"She's bred to be a stayer so maybe we'll have some success."

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