BEN Looker is less than 10 wins from achieving a career-defining milestone, but time may be the only thing that can stop him.
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The Port Macquarie jockey is into the nervous 90s (93 wins as of Thursday morning) but he will need a red-hot run of form to smash the magical 100 barrier and complete a mission he set four years ago.
He needs to reach the century before the end of the season on July 30 – something he would have thought was impossible not that long ago.
The 27-year-old could barely crack 50 wins four years ago, but a steady home life has helped mould Looker into one of the region’s hottest jockeys.
He has already enjoyed a number of significant wins at his home track as well as a career highlight triumph on Victorem at the Country Championship Final at Royal Randwick on April 7.
While it appears almost impossible that victory number 100 will be at his adopted home track on Sunday afternoon, one thing is for certain – it won’t be through a lack of trying.
While Looker grew up in Grafton, he can now claim to be a Hastings local and will no doubt hope for more success at a Port Macquarie track that has already provided many highlights.
“I used to hate travelling to Port when I was in Grafton because I used to struggle to ride winners here,” he said.
I wanted to run amok rather than concentrate on my riding, but Priscilla has been a really good leveller for me.
- Jockey Ben Looker
“But over the last three or four years I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of success here.
“I think I’ve worked the ins and outs of how to ride the track so I love riding at Port Macquarie.
“It’s my home track now and my two biggest successes outside of the final at Randwick have come here.”
Looker will be on board Blinkin Artie when the feature race jumps on Sunday afternoon.
When asked what the secret to his recent success was, Looker attributed it to hard work, maturity and fiancée Priscilla who has managed to keep him grounded.
“Five or six years ago I was a bit of a ratbag kid and probably didn’t take riding seriously,” he said.
“I wanted to run amok rather than concentrate on my riding, but Priscilla has been a really good leveller for me.
“She picks me up when I’m down and brings me back to earth when I need to and riding over the last three and four years … it’s really starting to pay dividends.”
Looker said he also had the privilege of being drawn on some “really good horses” – headlined by Victorem – which had provided him with the highlight of the season so far.
“At the end of the day you need the cattle underneath you to win races,” he said.
It’s not ideal the amount of kilometres you’ve got to travel, but if you’re not riding the horses, someone else will be there to ride them.
- Ben Looker
“It’s not ideal the amount of kilometres you’ve got to travel, but if you’re not riding the horses, someone else will be there to ride them.
“It’s been a very surreal year to be honest; I pinch myself that I’ve been able to ride the amount of winners I have and to find a very nice horse in Victorem.”
He admitted winning the Country Championship final in Sydney “meant the world to me” and the support he had received from trainers had grown significantly in the last three years.
“I’ve gone from averaging 40 winners a year to getting 86 and then 97 last year,” he said.