A dream will come true for Luke Humphreys this Saturday night when the young broadcaster gets behind the binoculars at Victorian harness racing headquarters.

The 21-year-old started as a full-time employee with Harness Racing Victoria in 2019 and less than three years on will call his first Group 1 race.

Humphreys will stand in for regular Melton caller Dan Mielicki this weekend and can barely contain his excitement ahead of the TAB Sumthingaboutmaori Trotters Free For All.

The 2760m feature is for the trotting mares and carries Group 1 status as well as $50,000 in prizemoney.

“I’ve got to thank my father, mother and even grandparents for driving me around… especially my Dad Paul,” Humphreys, from Gisborne, said.

“The amount of time they’ve spent driving me around to trials and non-TAB meetings, whether it was thoroughbreds, harness or dogs. Any of the three codes.

“It’s always been a dream to just call races. A couple of years ago to get a full-time job at 18 was unbelievable and to be calling cups was a great feeling.

“At the end of the day, the absolute ultimate is the Melbourne Cup, but a Group 1 of any description is probably next best for me.”

Humphreys expects to be calling home Anton Golino-trained Im Ready Jet for victory in Saturday night’s race, which doubles as the third and final leg of the Kerryn Manning Trotting Mares Triple Crown.

Im Ready Jet sits equal second on the leaderboard with Andy Gath-trained Vacation Hill heading into the Sumthingaboutmaori, two points behind leader Aldebaran Crescent (David Aiken).

“I actually got a bit emotional just thinking about it the other day because in my opinion I have put a lot of effort into my career over the last couple of years and probably missed out on a fair bit of social life,” Humphreys said.

“But when you get opportunities like this to do Group 1 races - at headquarters as well - it feels like all the hard work has paid off,” Humphreys said.

“It’s very rewarding.”

>> READ MORE: Luke Humphreys joins HRV, becomes youngest caller in state