Diggers Rest trainer John Roberts credits Ne Coupez Pas mare Jiggle It with helping him fight a life-threatening illness in the last twelve months.

Jiggle It (5m Ne Coupez Pas – Cold Spring Tea by Canny Lad) has won races at Ararat, Kyneton and Geelong since Roberts was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in December 2012.

After Roberts started chemotherapy, he was forced to transfer the horses into the care of his father-in-law Brian McKnight.  The only exception was Jiggle It.

“I knew I could handle riding her in work,” Roberts said.  “I think it helped because instead of sitting down and worrying, I had something to get up and do in the morning.

“When I was first admitted to hospital, they let me go home to watch her win a showcase race at Kyneton.  But I don’t think they knew I was actually going to the races!”

Thankfully, Roberts is now only a scan away on December 11 from all but getting the better of the disease.  “All my tests have been good and if that PET Scan is clear then I’ve got a very good prognosis that I should be right, in the short-term anyway,” he said.

“It doesn’t really sink in until you actually go into the Peter McCallum Cancer Hospital in East Melbourne.  Having cancer and hopefully having beaten it has certainly changed my perspective on life.”

Aside from helping him through his most important journey, Jiggle It has also done nothing to hurt Roberts’ reputation as a trainer.  He purchased Jiggle It’s dam Cold Spring Tea for just $5,000.

“The mare ran a few placings for us but she had soundness issues,” Roberts recalled.  “It got a bit hard constantly patching her up so we decided to send her to stud and Jiggle It is her first foal.”

Her sire Ne Coupez Pas (Nureyev) stands alongside Danerich at Rangal Park in Euroa.  Owner Eric Buttler can only put him over a limited book each year due to fertility issues.

JIGGLE IT & JOHN ROBERTS