Jacob Perrett wouldn't change his 'full-on' life

With the inclusion of Tamworthian Jacob Perrett and his five-year-old gelding Epic Ranger in the $200,000 race over 1400m, the event has an unmistakable David versus Goliath feel to it.

It's the first Tamworth Cup for both trainer and horse, and they will be pitted against thoroughbreds trained by such notables as Gai Waterhouse and her training partner Adrian Bott, as well as fellow Sydney-based raiders Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou, who are also a team.

Sydney will also be represented by Annabel Neasham and Greg Hickman.

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The high-profile trainers have been lured to Tamworth by the cup's status as a qualifier for The Big Dance, a $2 million annual race that will be staged at Randwick on November 7.

The position Perrett occupies in the racing industry is vastly different to his big-name rivals. With only four horses in work, he is a minnow.

"Just poking along with a small team," he said. "It's just a hobby for me, and I enjoy it."

Perrett is a welder by trade, but for the past six years he has worked for Luke and Jodi Morgan at their pre-training racing business at Tamworth.

Perrett's stables are located at the back of his parents' home at Westdale. The Grafton-born trainer has lived there since his family relocated to Tamworth when he was 11 years old.

His father, Bill, was an Inverell-based trainer who, like his son, had a small operation.

"Racehorses have always been in the family," the former Peel High student said. "They've always been around ever since I was a kid. I was always gonna end up with one or two somewhere."

At age 35, the father of four knows himself well. He has thought about expanding his business, but does not believe he is dispositionally equipped for such an undertaking.

"It always crosses your mind," he said of expanding. "But I struggle with owners sometimes.

He continued: "The owners I've got at the moment, they're really good to get along with."

"I've got a small team," he added, "so I don't keep them [horses] too long - they either shape up or ship out."

That approach to training upsets some owners. They tend to be the ones who "fall in love with their horses and just wanna watch them go around", Perrett said, adding: "But I'm not into that."

"The owners I've got now are very understanding," he added. "That's probably why I've got a successful little team at the moment. I've got some nice horses there."

In fact, Perrett said he had never been in better shape. And, in large part, that is due to Epic Ranger, who has five wins from 19 starts, including his past two starts, for more than $95,000 in prize money.

The Choisir gelding qualified for the Tamworth Cup by winning the Tamworth Cup Prelude on April 4.

On Friday, Ben Looker will once again be aboard Epic Ranger, a $41 long shot to win his home cup.

The Kris Lees-trained Spangler (Andrew Gibbons) was the $3.50 favourite, followed by the Waterhouse and Bott-trained Cross Talk (Koby Jennings).

Epic Ranger will jump from barrier 12 and will carry 54kg.

"He's come up good," Perrett said. "Obviously he's gonna have to take a few extra steps up, with it being a very strong cup field. But yeah, happy enough with him going into the race."

On the cusp of a major moment in his career, Perrett described his life as "full-on".

"But I wouldn't change it," he said.

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