BEN THOMPSON IS ON THE MOVE. THE SCOREBOARD IS ALREADY ROLLING AND HE IS ONLY SETTLING IN!

By Graham Potter with Ben Thompson | Friday, September 4, 2020

Ben Thompson's move to Queensland might have been prompted by romance, but the accomplished jockey has wasted little time in furthering his cause on a professional level pushing his scoreboard along nicely with winners at Eagle Farm and Ipswich this week. HRO’s Graham Potter had a chat to Ben and asked him how he was settling in.

“It is just fantastic the way I have been received here. I feel as though I have been welcomed with open arms and I’m receiving great support from a variety of trainers and it’s nice to have been able to put a few winners on the board. Hopefully, it is the start of better things.

“While I did make the move up here for personal reasons, looking at it career-wise I thought it would be a great challenge … and another good experience.

“Having said that, deciding to come up here was, of course, a bit of stepping into the unknown. It was a change. It felt very new and I had to adapt to things but, with my partner being Steph (Thornton), it was great to get here.

“She has done so well up here so I can take a few leads from her.

“Just seeing the way Steph has done things had something for me to follow, but I know I’ve got a lot of work to do to get to the standard that she has achieved here.

“Initially, I was just dying to find a routine to help me settle down … and I feel now as if I have found a routine that suits me … going to trackwork at Eagle Farm in the morning and the races etc … that has really helped me settle in.

“With that routine in place and being able to somewhat get my bearings now, I know more about where I am heading which makes it a lot easier.

“I’m as happy as I can be at this stage, both on a personal and professional level.

“So, yeah, I’m enjoying it and really looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

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