Former champion Sydney jockey Ron Quinton believes he's slowly managing to put his life back together after the death last month of Margaret, his wife of more than four decades.
A respected Randwick trainer, Quinton admits that his "wife and friend" had left one of Australia's best-known racing identities "struggling like never before".
![Respected: Trainer Ron Quinton is thankful for the "valuable distraction" of racing.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170824055253im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/a/0/7/i/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu9zau.png/1486691930643.jpg)
"I think I am luckier than most. I have these horses to look after and worry about so it's such a valuable distraction, because if I don't I will dwell on that terrible day," Quinton said
Just two hours before leaving their Sydney home for a flight to the Gold Coast sales, Margaret collapsed and died. Her death shocked the racing industry.
The pain for Quinton and his close-knit family is still raw but the horseman is determined not to stop working through the loss that they feel on a daily basis.
"My family have been a terrific back-up and support and the well-wishes from those across the industry have been wonderful. I want to talk about things like great horses as it is part of moving on," he said..
When Fairfax Media approached Quinton about comparisons between the great Kingston Town and emerging star Winx, he welcomed the opportunity.
"It's fine. In fact, I want to debate the two horses but I will say this, I would love to have her [Winx] in my stable any time, day or night."
Quinton is a better authority than most on whether the champion mare can produce another Cox Plate victory later this year.
He maintains that Winx, who is chasing a 14th straight win at Randwick on Saturday, "could be just as good" as another former Sydney champion Kingston Town, who he rode to victory in one of the horse's three successes in Australia's most important weight-for-age race.
Quinton, who rode the second of Kingston Town's Cox Plates, believes that Winx has all of the armoury to not only win another Queen Elizabeth Stakes this autumn but a third Cox Plate.
"There are similarities and in Kingston Town's case he won from 1200 metres up to 3200 metres but she [Winx]Â won't be asked to stretch her races out to 3200 metres like he had to.
"Boy, I'd love to have her in my stable. Either as a jockey or a trainer – great, great mares like this are just a pleasure to ride or prepare for a race.
"As a jockey, if you get into a sticky situation, great horses have an enormous ability to get you out of it.
"What an amazing record she has and I'm pretty excited to watch her at Randwick on Saturday as she seems to be able to overcome any little setback. But I suppose that comes from being such a great mare," Quinton said.
Quinton will also have Dixie Blossoms in the Triscay Stakes, a group 3 event that could bring some much-needed good news to his stable.