The euphoria of piloting Sacred Day to victory in the Listed Grafton Cup on Thursday has done nothing to dampen the determination of Ben Looker in his quest of a riding century for the season following racing at Port Macquarie on the weekend.
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Looker was responsible for a double taking his major figures to 94 half season victories with still two weeks to go and plenty of opportunities available before the curtain closes on the 2019 equine year.
This achievement has proven elusive for the talented jockey despite earning figures of 93 and 91 wins when the curtain came down over the previous two seasons.
It was a dream come true for the popular north coast hoop as Sacred Day was able to score over Sopressa in the Grafton feature with family and friends trackside to celebrate the wonderful achievement.
Back on the job for the Port assignment, Looker flashed down the outside on Fantasy Midnight to take the short course Maiden Handicap before steering a perfect race on Jest Magic later in the program.
He is riding with a great deal of confidence and was able to assess the weekend track conditions to a tee by positioning both mounts off the pace and making a move towards the centre of the home straight to gain an advantage.
Peter Graham was the other jockey on the program to taste multiple wins with bookend victories on He's Elusive and Twelfth Rage respectively.
Graham was responsible for a well-judged effort on the John Steinmetz trained gelding, He's Elusive in the opening event before combining with trainer, Terry Evans, when Twelfth Raj landed the major prizemoney in the final race.
The Rheem Hot Water Class 3 feature on the card saw a continuation of success for Team Grisdale when Coloane landed the prize over Red Heat and Bon Bon.
Trainer and jockey combination of Donna and Jon Grisdale are really enjoying their recent relocation to the north coast with Coloane now posting victories at Cessnock and Lismore before landing the prize on Saturday.
Young apprentice, Jacob Golden, showed great patience after missing the start on the Stephen Quintano trained gelding, Monument, to land the biggest winning margin of the day in the middle-distance Maiden Plate.
Victory was further sweet for the budding young hoop as the son of Snippetson raced ungenerously for most of the race and was intractable down the home running.
A successful day of racing was conducted before an enthusiastic holiday crowd with the Heavy 8 conditions tending to favour horses making ground down the outside section of the track from the home turn.
Port action continues with a meeting scheduled for August 8 with a reminder to mark down the Port Macquarie Cup Carnival on October 11 and 12 with the club's feature attracting record prizemoney of $200,000.
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