Industry Mentors: Brent Thomson

Cover image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock

Such was the prodigious talent of Brent Thomson that he’d ridden the winner of the G1 Cox Plate before turning 18. Two years later he was the retained jockey for one of Australia’s most powerful stables with international fame to follow.

At the end of his star-studded riding days, Thomson returned to Australia and continued his lifelong role within the thoroughbred industry, taking the position of New Zealand Bloodstock’s Melbourne representative.

A member of the Australian and New Zealand Racing Halls of Fame, he rode more than 2500 winners the world over with 54 at Group 1 level and claimed three Victorian Jockeys’ Premierships, the first non-Victorian to win the title following champion New Zealand apprentice honours.

Thomson flourished under the wing of several industry figures with his first mentor closest to home - his late father Kevin, an accomplished jockey in his own right before he successfully turned his hand to training in the lower North Island city of Wanganui.

He prepared a number of top-flight winners, including the high-class An Illusion (NZ) (Stunning {GB}) before the Group 1 system was established, and also showed his versatility by preparing Somoy (NZ) (Sobig {NZ}) to win two Australian Grand Nationals.

Thomson junior began his apprenticeship with his father as a 15-year-old in 1973 and quickly showed he was a natural in the pigskin, making a major name for himself at home and in Australia before he had served his time.

Whiz Kid

Such were his youthful exploits, he was dubbed the Wanganui Whiz Kid and later in his career was affectionately known as The Babe.

In the infancy of his apprenticeship, Thomson combined with his father to win the George Adams H., now the G1 Thorndon H. at Trentham aboard An Illusion.

“Dad was firm but fair and we had other apprentices so I guess he had to be seen not to be more lenient on me than the others,” he said.

“I didn’t see Dad ride, but apparently he was a pretty good jock before weight got in his way. It wasn’t as though he didn’t ride with success before me so he knew what it was all about. He most definitely had a major influence on my early career.”

He remembers one piece of sage advice imparted on him by his father - “he said don’t get bigger than the game itself and remember those you come across on your way up the ladder of success, otherwise the fall will be a lot faster.”

Thomson enjoyed a domestic association with the outstanding Fury’s Order (NZ) (Indian Order {GB}) and he was charged with the responsibility of the ride in Australia and handled the occasion with aplomb to win the first of his G1 Cox Plates in 1975.

Thomson won the race again two years later on George Hanlon’s Family Of Man (Lots Of Man {USA}) and then in 1978 and 1979 aboard So Called (NZ) (Sobig {NZ}) and Dulcify (NZ) (Decies {GB}) respectively. He regarded the latter as the best horse he ever rode.

So Called and Dulcify were prepared by the late Colin Hayes and following his victory with Family Of Man, Thomson’s career was to go to the next level as a 20-year-old.

“That was the third time I had been to Australia after Fury’s Order and I rode (into third) Kythera in the Melbourne Cup. At the National Yearling Sale at Trentham, Colin Hayes approached me to be his Melbourne stable jockey,” Thomson said.

“It’s one thing going from New Zealand to the Melbourne spring carnival, and the autumn carnivals, but it was another thing being appointed the number one jockey for one of the biggest stables in Australia.

“You had Tommy Smith, Bart Cummings and Colin Hayes at the time. They were the three most powerful stables in Australia in terms of numbers and winning major races.

“To be involved with one of them was a whole different ball game. Colin was a pretty serious man in lots of ways, an innovator in terms of being a trainer, breeder and studmaster and probably the first to build a place like Lindsay Park.

“The pressure on starting was quite significant, to step off a plane and take over the job of an Australian, replacing Johnny Stocker. There was pressure from both sides, both from Colin Hayes and from me to step up to the plate.

“It took about three or four city race meetings to get used to it and I enjoyed a successful relationship with Colin. In any relationship, there will be some times when it doesn’t work out.

“We had few major words over a ride, a mistake on my behalf. I can honestly say I could count them on one hand and suggest it was four and not five.”

Thomson said Hayes was never one to dwell on a past disagreement.

“The great thing about Colin Hayes was if that happened on a Saturday, it was forgotten by Monday and life moved on. He was a great trainer and he helped me no end.”

An early lesson Thomson learned from Hayes was that he expected excellence in all departments, from mucking out the boxes through to the vets and his jockeys.

It was also the quality of Australian metropolitan jockeys and the calibre of thoroughbred Thomson combined with that further honed his skills.

“A working week in those days was Saturday, Wednesday and Saturday. There wasn’t the volume of racing then and because we only had a certain standard of horse in our Melbourne stables we very rarely went to the provincials,” he said.

“Riding against the best jockeys in itself always helped, as did riding high quality horses.”

Thomson collected three Victorian premierships during his time with Hayes and four years later another legendary figure of the turf was to come calling, the late Robert Sangster.

Like Hayes, Sangster was a racing and breeding visionary who won more than 100 Group 1 races, including the 1980 Melbourne Cup with the Hayes-trained Beldale Ball (USA) (Nashua {USA}).

From the mid-1970s, in partnership with John Magnier and Vincent O’Brien, Sangster transformed the sport. Their buying sprees of American-bred yearlings at Keeneland led to overwhelming success for the Coolmore triumvirate.

“I had got to know Robert quite well before going over, but to get to the entry card to go and ride his horses in the UK, and for other amazing owners, was quite something,” Thomson said.

“Having Robert Sangster as my sponsor was a massive help and we became very good friends. My first success was at Royal Ascot on Committed in what was the Cork and Orrery Stakes, (now the G1 Queen’s Jubilee S.) All those things were massive door openers.

“He was an easy guy to ride for and the big job in Europe in those days was riding for Ballydoyle and Vincent O’Brien. Pat Eddery in my time was the number one jockey, but I rode all a lot of the horses associated to that yard in Great Britain.

“Steve Cauthen then took the job with Henry Cecil and because Barry Hills trained a lot of Robert’s horses and I ended taking that job with Barry on. Indirectly, I was still riding for Robert, but I was contracted to Barry.”

Thomson said it was a busy, but rewarding experience in England.

“In the summer they raced twice in the day and the evening. It was a big workload and a lot of driving and flying to race twice and then abroad as well,” Thomson said.

“They never had nine and 10 race programs, which we have here and I’m against that. I think it’s too many races personally.”

A major highlight of Thomson’s time in England was his victory aboard the Hills-trained and Sangster-owned Gildoran (Ire) (Rheingold {Ire}) in the G1 Royal Ascot Gold Cup.

“He was a wonderful stayer and, amazingly, for a big and heavy horse he needed the ground like a road. He really loved fast ground and he won two Ascot Gold Cups, Steve Cauthen rode him the first time and I rode him the second,” he said.

“The Epsom Derby and Goodwood are wonderful meetings, but Royal Ascot is just something very special for all participants.”

Other highlights, among many for Thomson were successes with Sure Blade (USA) (Kris {GB}) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. and the G1 Grosser Preis Von Baden in Germany aboard the Australian globetrotter Strawberry Road (Whiskey Road {USA}).

Australia beckons

Come 1987 and a changing landscape in England, Thomson decided the time was right to return to Australia.

“It became difficult and Barry had twin boys Richard and Michael. Richard took over the job to Sheikh Hamdan when Willie Carson retired. Blood’s thicker than water so Barry made Michael his stable jockey, which was understandable,” he said.

“I didn’t have a big stable to ride for. I was briefly with Peter Walwyn, but by that time Peter was getting on in years and he was a great trainer, but didn’t have the same horsepower.

“If you’re winning maidens in England and not stakes race you’re going backwards and so I got a call from Geoff Murphy, who said he had a pretty good spring team.

“It was really a commercial decision. While I was reluctant to leave English racing, I had to weigh up the pros and cons and the outlook of getting a big job wasn’t there.”

Thomson was quickly back in the thick of the action in Australia and won the G1 Caulfield Guineas on Marwong (Whiskey Road {USA}) and the G1 Caulfield Cup on Lord Reims (NZ) (Zamazaan {Fr}).

He also spent four successful seasons riding in Hong Kong before another stint in England.

“I did go back in the mid-1990s to freelance and I did that because I felt there was unfinished business,” he said. “Freelancing is very difficult and I spent a bit of money trying to prove a point to myself.”

Time called

Thomson subsequently rode in Macau before deciding in June, 2000 to retire from a long and distinguished career.

“Macau was going well at the time and I rode for two seasons there. I didn’t really enjoy living there and I’d ridden in Hong Kong so I’d been to the mountain with the standard there,” Thomson said.

“I looked at my options and there weren’t that many. Singapore had gone out on its own and there were more jockeys there than horses and an expensive place to live if you weren’t on a retainer.

“Other parts of Asia didn’t appeal to me so what I strongly considered was that after being away for 14 years it was near impossible to crank it up in Australia. You lose all your contacts because people move on.

“I had no regrets making the decision to retire, I had a great career.”

NZB chapter opens

Another racing door subsequently opened for Thomson with an offer from New Zealand Bloodstock.

“It was pretty much out of the blue. I’d been back just a little while and was approached to be the Melbourne representative,” he said.

“I went to New Zealand and had a meeting and I’ve been with them ever since.

“I must say I have great relationships with everyone there – Petrea Vela, Andrew Seabrook, Joe Walls and a very good relationship with Sir Peter Vela. As far as companies go, I can’t speak highly enough of them and they’ve all helped me immensely.”