Just a few years ago, Dylan Gibbons was the one his schoolmates went to for a tip for the Melbourne Cup.
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On Tuesday, Gibbons will become just the second Hunter jockey to ride in the race since 1995, when Muswellbrook's Wayne Harris piloted 1994 winner Jeune a second time. Only Blake Spriggs in 2016 on Sir John Hawkwood has got the call up since.
The chance on Okita Soushi for two-time Melbourne Cup-winning Irish trainer Joseph O'Brien continues a remarkable rise for Gibbons, the son of Maitland jockey Andrew Gibbons.
At just 22, and three and a half years into his career, Gibbons has already won a group 1 with Explosive Jack in the Sydney Cup in April. The Waratah-based hoop has also established himself in the elite Sydney ranks, racking up 90 winners, and just last month rode in the richest race on turf, the $20 million The Everest, at Randwick.
But the time-honoured Melbourne Cup is just something else.
"I always loved watching Makybe Diva win it and it was always a race I got pretty excited about at school because they would let you watch it," Gibbons said.
"Everyone would always come to me for tips because I was the kid whose dad was a jockey, so it's always been a special race, but to be able to ride in it now is pretty special.
"The nerves haven't kicked in yet but I'm sure they will come race day. I've been too busy to really realise what's about to happen, but I'm sure on the day it will sink in and it will be a pretty special day.
"It's pretty crazy [to get a ride] but obviously I've had good support all along and I've had the right people on my side."
Gibbons will ride Okita Soushi, an $81 chance with the TAB on Monday, at 51.5 kilograms. The opportunity came via three-time Cup winner Kerrin McEvoy, who partnered Okita Soushi to 12th in the Caulfield Cup but opted to take the mount on Ashrun in the $8.4 million showpiece on Tuesday.
Ashrun is one of three in the race for Hunter syndicators Australian Bloodstock. Gibbons' boss, top Newcastle trainer Kris Lees, has Kalapour running. Lees was to also have Cleveland in the race but withdrew him late on Monday because of an elevated temperature.
Given his connection to both camps, Gibbons was hopeful of a low-weight Cup ride and his efforts to get one paid off.
"I thought I'd ask Australian Bloodstock about going with Ashrun at 51.5, but they said Kerrin had first refusal of him because he's won on him before," he said.
"Then I hit up Kris about Cleveland but he was still a bit unsure about him. It was before he won the Moonee Valley Cup.
"Then just through talking to Kerrin, he mentioned that if he went with Ashrun, he was going to have to get off Joseph's horse, so he put my name forward.
"The next minute Joseph got on to me after Kerrin gave me a good push and he wanted to book me for it. It all happened pretty quick.
"I wasn't too phased about the race. I had a ride in the Big Dance [at Randwick], but I just started looking by myself and seeing those at 51.5."
He was grateful for the support of McEvoy, who has been a valued mentor even before Gibbons' career started.
"I've dealt with Kerrin a lot and at one point he and Tommy Berry paid for me to go with them to Brisbane to valet for them for three days," he said.
"You'll go a long way to find a better bloke than Kerrin in racing. He's a freak of a rider and has achieved pretty much everything you can achieve, but he's also a down-to-earth, great bloke."
While bookmakers have given Okita Soushi little chance from gate 20 on Tuesday, Gibbons believes his mount is underrated.
"I've had a chat to Kerrin, and they think firmer ground is going to be better for him," he said.
"I don't think his run was as bad as it looked the other day in the Caulfield Cup. He probably would never have run in a race with that speed, around a tight-turning track his whole career overseas. It just doesn't suit that style of horse, so he's going to appreciate the further trip, hopefully a steadier tempo, and on a nice big track, so he gets a few more favours on Tuesday.
"And they wouldn't have brought him halfway around the world if he wasn't going to stay the trip."
Gibbons has never had a race ride in Melbourne but will have the chance to get his eye in around Flemington just before the Cup in the greys-only Subzero Handicap with Lees-trained Baltic Coast.
"That's pretty cool, and it will give me a good look around," he said. "And he's not the worst hope either. I've ridden him a few times and he's going well."
He said Lees was pleased to see him get a chance in the Cup.
"I rang him about Cleveland before Okita Soushi was even brought up, and when it was, he just said, 'mate if you get a ride, just jump at it. Don't wait for me'.
"He was pretty happy when he heard I got a ride. It was pretty special."
Gibbons went to Flemington for the first time on Sunday morning, walking the track with girlfriend Nevada Mansfield and Jarrad Cook and Cameren Swan from Lees Racing.
"It's an amazing place," he said.
"We went for a nice long walk around there, had a good look around and took it all in."
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