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Caboche caps apprenticeship with Cup win

Dylan Caboche celebrated the closing days of apprenticeship winning a second Gawler Cup last Friday.

Caboche starts the next phase of his riding career as a senior at Wednesday’s Strathalbyn meeting, following a windy road as apprentice.

The Victorian started his career under the guidance of Tony Noonan at Mornington back in 2015 before making the move to Adelaide where he has ridden more than 150 winners.

Caboche was close to finishing apprenticeship around 18 months ago before he was involved in a nasty trackwork incident at Morphettville when horses got loose and he was trampled rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.

“About six horses got loose and I was knocked over,’’ Caboche said.

Knowing he’d done something bad, Caboche was forced to deal with an even bigger issue and that was requiring a second knee reconstruction after six months.

But that didn’t stop his desire to get back in the saddle.

“I had two knee reconstructions in the end,’’ Caboche added.

“I had one but then needed another to get it fixed properly, I’d always planned to come back, but the first doctor said I might struggle to get back riding.

“Everything that could be wrong with my knee was! But after the second I was always confident I could get back and get the knee to where it needed to be,’’ he said.

While sidelined Caboche moved home to Melbourne to be close to family, rehabilitate and reignite his passion for the sport before his comeback back in February where he rode a winner at his first ride back aboard Whipcracker Way for Phillip Stokes.

He made the decision to come back to Adelaide and his continual hard work saw him rewarded with his first Group 1 ride in the South Australian Derby at Morphettville back in May for Stokes.

Despite having been back riding for eight months, Caboche said the knee was still getting used to the rigors of being a jockey again.

“It’s getting there. Every now and again it plays up but the further along I get the knee progresses,’’ he said.

Caboche said knowing he no longer has the benefit of a claim would mean trying to expand his contacts.

“It’s been a long time coming,’’ Caboche added.

“For me it’s about getting out and about and trying to get in with some new trainers I haven’t ridden for before.

That has seen him travelling to Gawler and riding work for Gawler horseman Gary Searle, the pair almost completing the perfect end to his apprenticeship when Exceltara was beaten into second spot at Port Lincoln on Sunday.

“Gary Searle has been really good, I’m heading up to Gawler Monday and Thursday to ride work up there,’’ Caboche said..

“So I plan to spend the other days at Morphettville and hopefully get down to Murray Bridge some where along the way,’’ he said.

His second Gawler Cup success, he won his first in 2017 aboard Lady Silhouette, with Tubby Two Tracks for boss and good mate Chris Bieg was a massive thrill.

“It was nice to end the apprenticeship on a good note,’’ Caboche said.

It was a perfect ride stalking a solid speed before Tubby Two Tracks powered away to Sasun and justify the stable’s confidence after a solid run in the Balaklava Cup at her previous start.

“The field dropped away a little bit and I was pretty confident going into the race,’’ Caboche said.

“We got in well with 54kg and I said if we got a good run in the race we’d be right in the finish. We didn’t to lead on her as she can over race in front, so it ended up perfectly having a good run just behind them,’’ he said.

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