Ben Thompson certainly has not been resting on his laurels since striking gold with his breakthrough Group 1 win aboard Uncommon James in the Oakleigh Plate at Sandown on February 25.
One weekend later, Thompson registered no less than seven winners in a three-day weekend blitz … from the Friday night meeting at the Sunshine Coast, to the Saturday metropolitan meeting at Eagle Farm, concluding with the meeting at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.
Thompson’s performance when dominating the early part of the Eagle Farm meeting … he rode the first four winners on the card … was nothing short of a masterclass.
The fact that those four winners came for four different trainers … Mark Currie (The Red Kite), Tony Gollan (All That Pazzazz), Red Top (Tony and Maddysen Sears) and Les Ross (Mishani Royale) … merely underlines both the high demand for Thompson’s services and his ability to produce results.
While there is still a little under five months to run till season’s end, Thompson’s four winner haul also made serious inroads to defending champion Jimmy Orman’s lead in the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership with Orman now only holding a slender three win advantage (61-58).
Clearly a Jockey’s Premiership, should it come, would be the cherry on the top of what has already been an outstanding season for Thompson … but Orman (who is currently away on honeymoon) is himself a standout rider so a great battle between these two talented jockeys could well be a big feature of racing in Queensland in the coming months.
The momentum that Thompson has built, and is sustaining, is perhaps best understood by referencing his statistics for the previous 2021/22 season.
(NB: These statistics are for Queensland metropolitan meetings only)
In the 2021/22 season Thompson finished sixth on the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership ladder with a total of forty winners. His current total of 58 winners (remember with nearly five months of the season left to run) already well surpasses last season’s winning return.
Thompson had 345 Brisbane metropolitan rides last season. This season he has already had 360 rides.
His winning percentage in last season was 11.6. He is currently on 16.1 percent.
Last season his mounts earned $2.9 million. To date, this season, his mounts have earned $5.1 million).
As can be seen from all of the above, Thompson’s upward trajectory in what is a highly competitive jockey arena is quite amazing … and it doesn’t only stem from his ability in the saddle. It has also been buoyed by other important factors.
Not only is Thompson among those setting the standard in terms of how success is assessed in terms of the results he forges through his relationship with the horses, he is also the consummate professional in the way he conducts himself with people, from working with trainers to help achieve the best result, to his relationship with strappers and stable staff to his forthright and detailed communication with owners.
You could say he is an all-around nice guy. You could say he is a role-model for younger riders.
Thompson himself would shrug that off and deflect any praise.
There is no grandstanding here … and that certainly is very much part of the appeal of a rider on the rise.
