The fact that three metropolitan meetings remain until the end of the current racing season is irrelevant as far as the outcome of the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership and the Brisbane Apprentice Jockey’s Premiership is concerned … with those titles long-since decided, and Ben Thompson and apprentice Jace McMurray franked their superior standing in that regard with both of these leading riders winning four races apiece at Doomben on Saturday.
Thompson leads the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership with 94.5 winners, 22.5 winners clear of Ryan Maloney.
The Premiership is a first for Thompson and his results on Saturday were significant in that it took him to 94.5 metropolitan winners for the season, eclipsing his previous personal best return in terms of metropolitan winners of the 93 winners he rode in the 2022/23 season in which he finished second behind Jimmy Orman in the Premiership.
The remaining three metropolitan meetings offers Thompson the chance to push on towards one hundred metropolitan wins for the season … a feat which has only been achieved by Jimmy Orman (twice), Jeffrey Lloyd (twice) and Chris Munce in the last fifteen years.
On Saturday at Doomben, Thompson was dominant in the first half of the card, riding three winners in the first five races …Tengun Tommy (a $1.75 favourite) for Tony Gollan … Benzino (a $5 equal favourite for Gary Duncan) and Grinzinger Champ (a $4.20 favourite for Jack Bruce) … before rounding off the day with Daggers (a $2.50 favourite for Tony Gollan) in the last race.
Jace McMurray leads the Brisbane apprentice Jockey’s Premiership with 42.5 winners, 22.5 winners more than Jasper Franklin, coincidentally the same margin by which Thompson leads the Jockeys Premiership.
On Saturday at Doomben, McMurray, after riding a winner in the second race proceeded to dominate the second half of the card, riding a race-to race treble in races six, seven and eight.
McMurray’s winners were … Moonan Quartz (a $3 favourite for Michael Lakey) … Dirty Dancing (a $21 chance for Gillian Heirich and Ben Rodgers) … Taltarni Fields (a $6 chance for Kelly Schweida) and Esjay (a $5 chance for Pat Webster).
These results, in their own way. rubber-stamped and brought into focus the season’s achievements of these two Premiership winners as they carried all before them on the day … leaving just one scrap out for the rest of the jockeys, with Michael Rodd being the only other rider to claim a win at the meeting.
