Thompson grabs The Harrovian ride after admiring from afar

The North Queensland cups champion reeled off 11 straight victories through 2019 and 2020 and Thompson admits he couldn’t help but admire him when he made the trip to Brisbane to win the Listed Bernborough Plate last year. A year on and Thompson is in the saddle in the same race as he looks to replicate what the horse was able to do 12 months earlier. “I followed him the day he won at Eagle Farm which was early on in his time with Toby and Trent Edmonds,” Thompson said. “Any horse like that, obviously you’re focusing first and foremost on your own horse, but it was like when we were racing alongside Incentivise when the spruik started on Ipswich Cup Day then he bolted in at Eagle Farm before heading south.“It is exciting to be around them and you appreciate those animals, you take note of what they do pre race and what not.“There is no rule to a good horse but a lot of the good ones are so calm and you can tell they are amazing athletes, it’s even nicer when you can get aboard one.”While the formguide will show the ageing warrior is yet to win in 2021, he has been among some top-class horses, running a gallant fifth in the All-Star Mile at Moonee Valley, third in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 behind Eduardo and Wild Planet before faltering to sixth in the Stradbroke Handicap. Returning earlier this month, Thompson said he ticks a lot of boxes at Doomben on Sunday as he looks to get back to his winning ways. “I thought he went super first up and carried 60kg, only beaten 1.1 (lengths) to Tambo’s Mate, I thought it was really good,” he said.“He’s up to a mile now and drops a bit in the weights so he ticks a lot of boxes.“His record and heart speaks for itself, it is a competitive race but he deserves to be taking on the top horses, he has drawn well and I really like that he comes down to 57.5kg, he’s only giving the bottom weight 3.5kg.”With Stewart set to return from suspension in early 2022, Thompson admits he isn’t sure what the future holds but said he was keen to continue to put his hand up. “I am really excited to get on him. I don’t know what lies ahead after Sunday, obviously Brad knows the horse so well and stuck with him when he went to Victoria for the All-Star Mile,” he said. The Harrovian is rated a $4.40 second favourite with TAB. Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au