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By Graeme White

The comment wasn’t too complimentary when trainer Jacob Perrett was told he would be in charge of a new galloper with plenty of convictions to his name.

“I said fair dinkum mate, he is a 27-start maiden,” Perrett recalled when he was told about Jousting.

Jousting scores at Armidale for Ben Looker. Image by Bradley Photographers

To his surprise, and probably that of his owners as well, Jousting has clicked with Perrett and will head into the Armidale meeting on Thursday as one of the favourites for the Become A Member of the Armidale JC Benchmark 66 Spring Cup (1900m).

Perrett’s first remarks were well-founded as Jousting had hardly set the world on fire with eight placings from 25 starts on Victorian provincial and country circuits.

The six-year-old had an 18-week gap between starts when Perrett lined his new charge up on a heavy track at Scone where he finished midfield and was beaten more than six lengths.

Then his racing fortunes turned around.

Jousting raced out of his grade in a Class 1 when he was narrowly beaten finishing third at Moree before he started to find his groove and Perrett learned a bit more about his stable addition.

At his third start for him, Jousting broke through as the $2.40 favourite which was a far cry from his previous starts and the odds being offered. Double and even triple-figure odds were often available about Jousting, but not anymore.

He justified the favouritism tag winning by two and a half lengths and then did it again last start at Armidale bolting in by almost five lengths, but this time he was a $16 hope.

Perrett said he used the same training methods with Jousting as he did with many of his horses and the galloper had simply performed to his ability.

“He has a tendency to pull up and wait for the other horses, but it has been a pleasant surprise to see him win a couple of races so soon,” he said. “I put him in the system I use and it has worked.

“I didn’t know much about him before and the owners told me to work with what I had which I did and it has worked out well so far.”

In between his two wins, Jousting was also a close second in a Class 2 at Tamworth adding to his $28,000 prizemoney he has collected since joining the Perrett stable at Tamworth.

The father of four travels his horses a few kilometres to the track each day and when he isn’t training his own horses, assists with the breaking-in and pre-training for Luke and Jodi Morgan at Tamworth.

“I do my own horses then work for Luke and Jodi and they are terrific to work for,” he said. “It’s pretty full-on with the horses and four kids, but my wife Lasche does a terrific job and helps me a lot with the horses.”

Perrett’s father Bill is a trainer at Inverell, while he has other family members involved in the industry. The 32-year-old trains several horses including Pedway and Mock Song which will race for him at Tamworth on Monday.

Pedway will also be having his first start for him after being purchased by Chris and Renee Englebrecht who also own Jousting.

Pedway has the form on the board being a last start winner at Goulburn for his former trainer Danny Williams. He also ran third in a Randwick Highway late last year and that is the same grade Perrett will be aiming with Jousting if he continues to perform.

“There is a suitable race for him at Randwick in two weeks if he runs well on Thursday,” Perrett said. “It’s going to be harder for him at Armidale jumping up to a Benchmark 66 from a Class 1, but I can’t fault the way he is going.

“He doesn’t give you a lot in trackwork and saves his best for the races and on Thursday the race is over the same distance (1900m) as he won at last start at the same track.”

Jousting, a son of Helmet, will again be ridden by Ben Looking with 2.5 kilograms less weight than what he carried last start.

Perrett has trained gallopers in the past that have responded better than he anticipated, but has also seen it work in reverse where horses have left his care and gone on to win races.

“I had a horse called Capitano who won several races and three in a row at one stage,” he said. “Sometimes you can jag a cheap horse and they can win a few races in a row.

“It has been a bit of a surprise with this horse after he took so many starts to win his maiden, but he has been going really well lately.”

There is certainly no shortage of helpers in the Perrett households with his children ranging in age from nine to twelve years of age always around the horses. The horses are just outside the back door so the kids learn pretty quick,” he added.

View the final fields with full form & race replays for Armidale here