11 February 2022 | HRNSW MEDIA | MICHAEL DUMESNY
JAKE Hughes represented the Hunter and North West region in the 2019 Rising Stars and finished a creditable second to Inter Dominion-winning reinsman Josh Gallagher in the series.
Highly-rated by his peers, Hughes is a talented young driver who does the majority of his driving at Newcastle and Tamworth and is right on the doorstep of racking up 100 wins, which will be a significant milestone for the 21-year-old.
A landscape gardener by trade, Hughes can boast that harness racing is his hobby and that he enjoys nothing more than heading to the track to compete.
Tonight, at Newcastle he has just two drives on the nine-race program but is quietly confident that he can bring up his century of winners aboard To Infinitynbeyond in Race 6.
Trained at Sawyers Gully by the in-form Stacie Elliott, To Infinitynbeyond is coming off a last-start fifth in a similar grade but does draw a more suitable gate (barrier 10) where he should obtain a good trailing position.
“We have finally gained a bit of luck in the barrier draw with this bloke,” said Hughes.
“Unsuitable draws have come against him lately and I feel that he can come over the top of them tonight, with the right run.
“I do a lot of driving for Stacie, and it would be great to be able to bring up my 100th winner with one of her horses.
“I am not a person that gets nervous over big occasions like this, but it will be a relief to reach the milestone.
“So many people have helped me with my driving career, it is very humbling, and I am grateful to all of them.”
While many eyes will be on Hughes in his quest to reach the century of wins, there is a promising two-year-old ready to show his talent in the last race tonight.
Shantilly, a gelded son of Sweet Lou who is trained at Berkshire Park by Brian Portelli, made his debut at Tabcorp Park Menangle last week, winning comfortably by almost four metres in the first juvenile event for the 2022 season.
Portelli has met with plenty of success in the past when heading to Newcastle with his youngsters with many of them, such as Tasty Delight, going on to bigger and better things and Shantilly certainly looks to be above average.
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