Gisborne teenager Luke Humphreys is proving to be a frontrunner in the race-calling world.
He called last week at Victoria’s home of harness racing, Tabcorp Park Melton, at a race meeting which was televised on Sky Channel.
The 16-year-old said he was “very, very lucky” to have been given such an opportunity. “It’s just the stuff you dream of, really,” he said.
Luke got into horse racing at an early age through his father who breeds and races standardbreds. As a young boy, Luke would go along to the race course and practise calling. He landed his first break, as a grade 6 pupil, when Ballarat Turf Club asked if he would fill in for the regular night trials caller.
Luke laughed when recalling his first broadcasting gigs.
“I thought, ‘This will be easy’,” he said. “Of course, I was appalling at it.”
The young broadcaster now aspires to calling feature races and to pursue media studies. “Calling the Melbourne Cup would be the absolute pinnacle for any Melbourne caller,” he said.
