Isaac Lupton has revealed that he’s only still riding because of Wise Men Say, his mount in Saturday's The Tractor Centre Pakuranga Hunt Cup (4900m) at Ellerslie.
The affable jumps jockey will shoot for his sixth win in the feature steeplechase aboard a horse he describes as "potentially one of the best I've ridden", a statement that demands contemplation when you consider Lupton was the regular partner of champion jumper Hypnotize.
"He's the main reason I carried on riding after I had that bad fall a couple of years ago," Lupton said of Wise Men Say.
He broke a shoulder, wrist, angle and some ribs in a horrific fall on Field Daze at Te Aroha in September 2015.
"It took a lot longer to come right than I'd hoped. I was in hospital for a week afterwards and it all happened at the worst time," said Lupton, who milks 300 cows on his Waverley dairy farm.
"It was at the start of AB [artificial breeding] mating on the farm, which I do myself, so it ended up being a bit of a nightmare. That's probably why I don't ride as much now."
That Wise Men Say motivation to continue riding is approaching its denouement now as the Raymond Connors-trained Yamanin Vital eight-year-old gelding prepares to tackle the Ellerslie blue-riband steeplechase double of the Pakuranga Hunt Cup and Great Northern Steeplechase.
In 12 rides on Wise Men Say, Lupton has won three times and placed in a further four, among the triumphs a 16-length win in the appropriately-named Hypnotize Steeples (4000m) at Hawera in May and a breath-taking win in the McGregor Grant Steeples (4190m) at Ellerslie in May.
"He's different to Hypnotize, who was probably a bit classier, and Counter Punch had a bit more class as well," Lupton said.
"He's more of a one-batter, but you know the ability is there. I always thought he'd be a Northern horse. His win in the McGregor Grant was what I thought he'd do last year, but he might have still been a bit new.
"He had no luck in the Northern. He fell but it wasn't his fault [he landed awkwardly at the water jump]. A drying track probably doesn't suit him ideally on Saturday because he'd be more competitive if the track was more testing, but I still think he'll be hard to beat.
"You saw him finish like he did in the McGregor Grant and that was only 4000m. With him, the further they go, the better."
Lupton holds the record for most wins for a jockey in the Pakuranga Hunt Cup, having racked up his previous wins aboard Bart in 2005, Real Tonic in 2006 and Hypnotize in 2007, 2008 and 2010.
"I did have a good run there for a while with Hypnotize, but it's been a few years now. That time has gone by pretty quickly."
Lupton has two other rides at Ellerslie on Saturday, on Coolibah in the Harrison Lane Hurdle and Max in the John Prangley & John Kloosterman Memorial Steeplechase.
