It took Ben Thompson a pinch less than one minute and forty-seven seconds last Sunday to nail down his place in the Hong Kong Derby line-up. That mature display, riding the Classic series’ springer Bundle Award in a vital Class 2 victory, screamed ‘Derby’.
The win lifted the John Size-trained galloper 11 points in the ratings to 86 and confirmed the potential of not only the gelding’s four previous Hong Kong runs for one win, but also his pre-import record of three wins from four in Victoria.
With the news that Size is sticking with the Australian rider, Thompson now has an opportunity to fulfil his own potential and earn serious kudos in Hong Kong. Here he is, six wins for the campaign, 20th of 26 jockeys currently active in the premiership, yet he’s heading into the race that makes the whole Hong Kong circuit tick with a big chance of success.
Bundle Award and the 2025 Hong Kong Derby: they could be the making of Thompson in the way Golden Sixty was for Vincent Ho, how Designs On Rome was for Tommy Berry, or even Luger for Zac Purton.
Take out those Derby wins and Ho might not have had the chance to go on and excel as he has; Berry would not have gained the same plaudits that brought a full-time role in the city; and perhaps even Purton would not have gone on to establish a connection with Size down the line if not for picking up that spare ride on Luger and delivering the second of the trainer’s three Derby wins.
The importance of the 2000m feature on March 23 is not lost on Thompson.
“My view, being from Australia, is that the Hong Kong Derby to Hong Kong people is like the Melbourne Cup is to Australians, so it would be a huge result and my biggest achievement in racing if we were to be successful,” he tells Idol Horse.
“I’ve been riding in Hong Kong now for just gone 12 months so I was fortunate enough to be riding at last year’s Derby meeting, and just the buzz … The Derby had a different feel about it, it was a build-up like no other. You definitely come to understand that every owner here wants to win the Derby, that’s the dream, so it has to be the same for a jockey.”
Thompson, 27, has a side connection to Bundle Award via the gelding’s early days in Australia when known as Prince Prawn and trained by Allan and Jason Williams, the father and brother of renowned jockey Craig Williams who rode Bundle Award in his first two career starts.
“They were my masters when I was an apprentice, so it feels like it’s got a special touch to it and it’s magic to be on him. They trained him for his first four starts, so maybe it’s meant to be,” he says.
“I actually valeted for Craig for a short time when his regular valet was unavailable, before I was riding. Since then, we have always been in contact and it’s very valuable to have a rider, and a person, more so a person, like Craig only a phone call away.”
Thompson started with Mick Kent but joined the Williams team one year into his apprenticeship. His parents are greyhound trainers and he didn’t actually start riding horses until he was 15, but having progressed his career away from Victoria to Queensland, and bagging a Group 1 score in the 2023 Oakleigh Plate, he received a Hong Kong call-up in February 2024.
But Hong Kong is as tough as its reputation says it is: Thompson ended that five months through to the season’s end with a respectable seven wins; this term, six months in he has one less, yet he has found a vital supporter in Size, Hong Kong’s 12-time champion trainer.
“Every jockey wants to be at the high end of the table,” Thompson says. “But I have the mindset that as long as I’m preparing well and doing the best with the opportunities I’m getting, that’s all I can do, and no matter what jurisdiction you’re in, let alone here, it’s about getting to know the end goal. It’s not necessarily a sprint and in most cases it’s a marathon, so I’m definitely prepared to stick at it for as long as I need to.
“I’ve found Mr. Size to be very clear with what he wants when riding for him and of course riding for a trainer that is John Size fills you with a lot of confidence, so it’s great to get opportunities for him.”
That confidence was clear in the way Thompson settled Bundle Award in the last pair from a wide draw and enabled the horse to relax into its rhythm before charging down the final 400m of the Sha Tin straight in a swift 22.11s. That was the plan Size had required him to execute.
“His other Hong Kong win he sat not far off the speed, and then last time he showed a lethal turn of foot ridden further back. It has certainly added another string to his bow, and just the way he settled and conserved energy was equally as impressive as his turn of foot, so that makes him a great contender going into the Derby.”
Size entrusted him with the ride on Bundle Award first-up, but then he had to watch as Alexis Badel, Brenton Avdulla and James McDonald took the ride. There was no guarantee he would get back aboard, but Size has a history of giving a hand to loyal jockeys from the fringes, if they have the necessary quality.
“I was always hopeful to ride him again,” Thompson says. “He did look to be potentially a very progressive horse, and even the feel he gave me that first day, from a wide draw over 1400 metres, he felt well above average. Thankfully, I did get back on him.” ∎
