For 18-year-old Corey Peterson, a career working with horses was inevitable.
WA’s equal leading concession driver for the 2017/18 season, Peterson had been working horses in a sulky since the age of 10 and always saw himself becoming a trainer later in life.
He grew up at the Hazelmere property of his trainer-mother Sarah Dacey, next door to hall-of-famer Gary Hall Snr, and his love of the standardbred soon became firmly entrenched.
“Whenever I was home I was always down the back with the horses and I’d also go next door, to Senior’s, to work horses on the weekend,” Peterson said.
“I did that since I was 10. I played a little bit of footy, but horses just took over.
"I didn’t enjoy school at all and ended up leaving in year 10, and most of that year I was doing a cert three in agriculture outside of school.”
After leaving his Byford school, Peterson began working at Hall’s stable as a trackwork driver and stablehand full-time and also signed up to become a junior driver.
However, becoming a race-day driver wasn’t always the plan.
“I actually wanted to be a trainer,” Peterson said.
“I’ve always enjoyed the training side of things and I mainly started driving just to pass the time, but I’ve learnt to love it now.
"They’d be on par now, but I like the enjoyment and satisfaction you get when a horse goes good and you’re training it.”
Peterson’s stocks as an up-and-coming driver received a boost when he landed his first Friday night winning double at WA harness headquarters, Gloucester Park, on November 2.
After finding himself near-last and in a seemingly-impossible position approaching the home turn, Peterson was able to find a clear passage with the Mathew Scott-trained Always Arjay, pictured above, ($25.00) in the Book Your Next Conference At Gloucester Park Pace (2536m) and finished powerfully to score a surprise win, before producing a polished performance aboard the Josh Dunn-prepared Khun Ratha ($4.70) to also win the next race on the card, the NYE At Gloucester Park – Book Now Pace (2130m).
Looking back at the milestone, Peterson admits he didn’t think either of the wins, let alone both, were possible leading into that night.
“I thought I might’ve been a place chance on Khun Ratha, but I didn’t think they could win,” he said.
“If you’re watching the replay of Always Arjay, at the 400m you’re thinking ‘he’s 200-to-one to win this’ and that’s what I thought.
"I drove for luck and another horse pushed off the fence so I followed it and then I was able to push out.
"At the top of the straight I thought ‘geez, he’s actually going better than some of these guys’.
"I didn’t think I’d won it on the line though.
"I turned around to Kyle and said ‘did I win that?’.
"Then down the straight in Khun Ratha’s race I was thinking ‘I could get my first double here!’.
"It was a great feeling.”
After having worked for Hall Snr for more than six years, Peterson felt he was in need of a change of scenery and made the decision to leave the state’s premier stable earlier this year.
He then joined forces with comeback-trainer Aiden Warwick, the private trainer for owner Rob Tomlinson at the time, but a lack of driving opportunities prompted him to make another move.
He now works for the Mundijong-based Kristian Hawkins and believes his experiences working under different trainers and being exposed to different methods and techniques will provide him with a broader skill set for when he eventually makes the transition into training.
“The trainers I’ve worked for have been very different, the way they do everything,” Peterson said.
“Aiden has been to America and has brought some stuff back from there and it’s interesting how he’s done that.
"He’s a great trainer and just watching how he does everything, you don’t realise how much you learn at the time but then when you’re playing around with your own horses, you realise how much each trainer has actually taught you.
"It was tough leaving Aiden’s because I really enjoyed working there, but I wasn’t getting the drives and Kristian doesn’t mind sharing them around, which is good.”
Peterson also credits his mother as the biggest influence in his career to date.
The pair work closely and, despite Dacey only having two horses in work now, Peterson assists her each day and says they operate as a team.
“Mum has probably helped me out the most and picks out all the little things with my driving,” he said.
“She’ll have her opinion with our horses, too, and we always work it out.
"We don’t really butt heads because I know Mum knows more than me and if the horse goes bad then she gets the blame!
"But she also learnt off Senior, so she trains fairly similar to him and we’re both used to doing things the same way.”
Peterson says he has gained more confidence from driving the country tracks of WA and hopes his recent city-winning double will help him receive more opportunities in the future.
Now in his second year of race-day driving, the shy and softly-spoken Peterson has noticed an increase in his tactical aggression and says he is no longer worried about making a move in a race when the opportunity presents itself.
“I think it’s the same with everyone. When you first start and have to push out you think ‘I don’t know if I can’. But when you get a bit more experienced you think ‘I can get out here’ and you just do it,” Peterson said.
“My favourite track is probably Albany.
"I’ve had a bit of luck on that track and I like the small bush tracks.
"I find them fun and, at those places, you’re half-a-chance of getting a full book and more chance of driving a winner.”
Asked where he’d like to see himself in five years’ time, Peterson plans to apply for his trainer’s licence in the near future and hopes to cement a place in WA’s trainer-driver ranks for years to come.
“I’d like to have a team of horses of my own,” he said.
“I’d like to be a bit of a freelance driver, if I can make it as a driver, and still have a couple of horses of my own.
"I’ve got all the paperwork to get my trainer’s licence, I just need to get a couple of references.
"I enjoy the challenge of training and working through horse’s problems.
"If it all turns out good and you get it right on the day, you know that you’re the one who has done that.”
Michael Heaton