Luke is loving life in the fast lane

Victorian concession harness racing driver Luke Dunne has always been a young man in a hurry and he’s wasted no time making a mark in his chosen sport.

At 16 years old, he can’t yet have a car licence but as a harness racing driver he took just over two weeks to ice his first winner at only start number 11.

“As a kid I always wanted to go fast – I loved things with wheels: bikes, motorbikes, anything. And I’ve always loved being around the horses, so this is a pretty good combination of those two things,” Dunne said.

“I’d had a couple of placings before the win, then a couple of fourths and I’d only missed checking in three times. It was good to get that first win, though,” he said.

The memorable moment came on Cobalt Blues (Mr Feelgood – Saucyas (Julius Caesar) a five-year-old gelding prepared by Dunne’s employers, Julie and Glenn Douglas at Bendigo.

Dunne landed three back on the pegs from his inside second row draw, and going down the back straight looked to be in trouble with a tiring horse in front of him. But the youngster managed to extract himself from the pocket and Cobalt Blues, a $27 chance, sprinted hard in the straight to score by a neck.

“I was happy enough with the drive, but I knew I would get called in to the stewards with how I got out,” Dunne said.

“I was happy not to let Glenn and Julie down because they were quite confident about how the horse was going, but once the draw came out the task became a bit harder,” he said.

“The owner (Swan Hill horseman Noel Watson) was thrilled though – he rang Glenn straight after the race to tell him he’d buy me the photo. It’s great to drive for owners like him because he’s had some great horses over the years, but just enjoys the thrill of racing.”

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Dunne, who grew up at Carisbrook, near Maryborough, is a fourth-generation harness racing participant. He is the great grandson of former Mildura trainer the late Paddy Dunne, one of the pioneers of harness racing in the region.

“My great grandfather brought the sport into the family, then my grandfather (Frank) followed him into it as well. Mum (Kelly-Anne) was always into it, as a trainer and driver, and my old man Paul Watson is a trainer as well. They managed to win a Group One Vicbred Super Series race for two year old trotters with Shes An Image that Paul trained and mum drove, ” he said.

“I was probably always going to get into it at some stage, but last year when COVID happened, I was kind of caught. I wasn’t enjoying school and home schooling just made it harder. I just wanted to be working, so I decided to give it a go.”

Dunne played top level age football earlier in his teenage years but says being able to continue with harness racing right through the past 18 months was a telling factor in deciding between the two.

“I did a lot of groundwork at the trials and drove for 12 months – as soon as I was old enough to get my licence I just went around every week at Maryborough, as many times as I could,” he said.

“The second week I had my licence I had eight drives, and that was a wild old morning – eight trial drives, then two in the runaround. It was a big step up from working four or five at home!

“Then a lot of things changed again when you hit the track. It’s a huge step up in every way, even just how the horses act and run. I knew that, but it was a lot different to what I thought, but in a good way. James (Herbertson), with all the winners he’s had tells me you never stop learning.

“I’ve had some fantastic support from people like Steve Connnor, Trish McVeigh and John Douglas who gave me a go at the trials and Trish and Steve have given me race drives too.

“I’ve been fortunate to work with some people who’ve been good teachers. Paul and mum for a start. I spent some time working with Kate Hargreaves and Alex Ashwood, then with Kate and Andy Gath, a month or so at Brent Lilley’s and once I finished school now I’m full time with Julie and Glenn.

“Just starting off you really have to put in the work to build your foundation and you have to depend on a lot of people to help you as well as themselves. That’s one of the reasons I went to Julie and Glenn’s. Jack Laugher (also working at the Douglas stable) is at nearly every race meeting and I will learn a lot from him. Glenn watches all my races too and gives me feedback which helps a lot.

“I will give it a red hot go for a couple of years and see how things are working out – I figure you’ll have a pretty good idea in a couple of years, and if it’s not, then I can always go back and get a trade.

“I hope not, though. Every time I go around at the races, I just want to keep going around! I am absolutely loving it.”

By Terry Gange for Harnesslink