By Jordan Gerrans
Adopted Queenslander Ben Thompson feels he has found the galloper that is his best chance yet to win an elite level race on “home soil”.
The 26-year-old nabbed his maiden Group 1 victory with Uncommon James in the Oakleigh Plate earlier this year.
That win came in the state where Thompson grew up – Victoria – and as he has resided in the Sunshine State in recent years, he is keen to add another Group 1 to his resume in his new home.
The lightweight rider has struck up a close partnership with up-and-coming Toowoomba galloper Yellow Brick and Thompson believes he is the horse that looms as his greatest Group 1 chance yet in Queensland.
Yellow Brick heads to the Fred Best Classic next Saturday afternoon at Eagle Farm, with the Group 3 race for three-year-old's boasting a “golden ticket” into the Stradbroke Handicap later in the carnival.
The son of The Mission was devastating at Caloundra first-up in the Gold Coast Guineas.
“The feel he gives, he feels as good as he looks,” Thompson said.
“Obviously you are not a Group 1 horse until you win but he is right on the way to doing that.
“He is taking us on a great ride and hopefully he can continue to do that.”
Yellow Brick is prepared by the father and daughter training partnership of Tony and Maddysen Sears at Clifford Park.
The three-year-old gelding endured a tough, wide run when resuming at Caloundra earlier this month to win in dominant fashion and the smiling hoop described Yellow Brick’s ability in motor car terms.
Thompson says Yellow Brick is a galloper that fills him with confidence.
“He can travel on a fast speed and not feel like he is overdoing it – and then he can quicken off that,” he said.
“Not many horses can do that, normally they have to travel in reserve and then give a sprint, not travel fast in what most horses would feel as fifth gear – where for him, it feels like it is his third.
“The way he travels mid-race is well above average and the most impressive thing about him now is the maturity that he has made.
“He has really settled into being a professional race horse and he had to do that to get to the next level.
“Good horses have natural talent and they keep improving to become the full package, which he is doing and hopefully he can show it this time in.”
A winner of six from his first eight career starts, Thompson is eager to stick with Yellow Brick through the winter of 2023, aiming to book his place in the Group 1 show-piece of the carnival – the Stradbroke Handicap.
“He is obviously such an exciting horse,” he said.
“His name is really up in lights following the King of the Mountain and his run in the Magic Millions Guineas. His first-up run was awesome at the Sunny Coast.