I think there are/were so many good jockeys during that era that went by very much unnoticed considering the list of big ‘names’ that were dominating the sport at that time. Rouse being one of the less noticed.
His association with Stanerra was remarkable in that 1983 season because after an unplaced finish in the Earl of Sefton, she then won the Brigadier Gerrard Stakes, Royal Ascot’s Prince of Wales Stakes and then 3 days later broke Grundy’s course record in the Hardwick Stakes before winning the Joe McGrath Memorial Stakes (aka Irish Champion Stakes) before becoming the first European winner of the Japan Cup….oh and for good measure she also managed to fit in finishing 4th in the Eclipse and 6th in All Along’s Arc.
All that is to say that she clearly wasn’t left wanting when it came to assistance from the saddle and one can only imagine how much more success he might have had had he not worked as an electrician until his late 20s….indeed it would be 15 years between his first and second winner as a jockey!
RIP