It’s a decent hike from Port Macquarie to Dubbo, and Benny Looker generally doesn’t make the almost seven-hour trip unless it’s for a feature meeting, such as the Dubbo Cup or Country Championships.
On Sunday, the opportunity to ride for leading NSW country trainer Clint Lundholm was ‘too hard to pass up’, and Looker was rewarded with a good victory for the Dubbo stable, guiding Smooth Esprit to victory in the Dubbo Cup Prelude (1418m).
Finishing hard and fast down the outside on the seven-year-old, the pair beat a quality field of runners.
Looker explained that it was merely coincidental that he was riding at Dubbo on Sunday, with the in-form hoop stepping up to help Lundholm out as his regular riders, Jake Pracey-Holmes and Ronald Simpson, were suspended.
“Obviously, Jake and Ronnie are Clint’s two stable riders, but them being suspended worked in my favour, as he needed a rider,” Looker told NSW Country and Picnic Racing.
“I’ve ridden a fair few winners for Clint for not many rides; we’ve had a good run, and well, Clint is the leading country trainer in the state over the past 12 months, and the chance to ride a few for him was too hard to pass up.
“Plus, I’ve ridden Smooth Esprit before when it ran third in the Country Champs qualifier at Coonamble, and with that connection, it made sense for me to go to Dubbo.”
Smooth Esprit was very impressive on Sunday, and Looker believes the Bel Esprit gelding is a live chance when the Dubbo Cup rolls around on Sunday, September 10.
“Obviously, he has been racing in a lot of Highways without a lot of luck, and he’s drawn bad gates and found unsuitable track conditions,” Looker said.
“The horse has plenty of ability, and he got into the Dubbo Cup Prelude with a nice weight (55kg), and it was good to see him step up again the Central and Western Districts’ best horses.
“He’ll step up in class a touch more in the Dubbo Cup with it being a Big Dance eligibility race, but all he can do is win, and he’s done enough to get into that race, and I don’t see why he can’t run a big race.
“Plus, he’s only got to walk across the road on Dubbo Cup day, and a lot of those good horses will have to travel, so, with no weight, he has to be a realistic chance.”
Looker has been in terrific touch to start the new season, booting home eight winners to have him on top of the NSW jockey’s title race.
Before heading to Dubbo, he brought up a Tuncurry double on Friday, winning on the Colt Prosser-trained Vilified and the David Atkins-trained Lounerse.
He also landed a winner at Casino on Saturday, winning on the Matthew Dunn-trained Playgirl.
If that wasn’t enough, he detoured through Newcastle on his way home from Dubbo. He rode another double on the Beaumont on Monday, winning two for Matthew Smith when riding Scalextrics and Bullbarrow to victory.
While he was thrilled with his excellent start to the season, Looker touched on what was a hectic schedule of rides, which also saw him in action at Ballina on Tuesday.
“I obviously rode Friday at Tuncurry and Saturday and Casino, then I was back home Saturday night and got up early Sunday morning before leaving for Dubbo at 6 am,” Looker said.
“I got back to Newcastle at 10.15 pm, and after riding at Newcastle on Monday, I went home last night and was back in the car today (Tuesday)heading to Ballina.”
Jockeys spend a lot of time travelling, but it’s a little harder for Looker, who has a young family at home in Port Macquarie.
“I try and limit going that far west, just with two young kids at home, and missing out on a lot when you’re leaving when they are still in bed and getting home when they are in bed for the night,” Looker said.
“I hadn’t seen them since Friday night until this morning (Tuesday), and being a parent makes that a lot harder.”
Looker is racing closer to home this week with a good book of rides at Taree on Friday.
