Former jockey Bonnie Thomson bouncing back as full-time trainer

By Andrew Smith

A serious injury could have seen Bonnie Thomson walk away from the racing game all together, but instead it has only served to enhance her career.

The 46-year-old first secured a dual licence in 2018, both riding and training winners around the North Queensland region.

But it was a fall in the saddle following a race at Mackay last year that convinced the mother of three to hang up the silks and turn her attention to training full-time.

Thomson admits it was hard to walk away from race riding, something she had done since she was 19 as an apprentice in Emerald.

“I was hoping that I could come back riding - several people have come back from broken necks before and that, but mine was probably a bit more severe than a lot,” Thomson said.

“I was lucky that I had that training there already as my background with being a jockey, so I had something to continue on with, so I just decided that I would stick with the training.

“They said I wasn’t even meant to ride trackwork again and I did that, but they weren’t keen for me to ride races anymore because I’ve got restricted movement in my neck.

“I suffer migraines and that so I just thought I would hand my dual licence in and be a trainer.”

Based at Black River just outside of Townsville, Thomson currently has 10 horses in full work.

Her 27 years of experience as a hoop means she still rides her own runners in trackwork at Cluden Park in the mornings.

Thomson admits it had been a slow start since she turned her full attention to the conditioning, but that she was slowly settling in to the role, regularly seeking advice from fellow North Queensland trainer Steven Royes.

“He is probably one of my biggest supporters, he stuck with me through everything and always checked on me,” Thomson said.

“I used to ride all of his trackwork before I got hurt and rode a lot of his races as well - now I’m back riding work, I ride for him only, but he’s always there for my guidance if I need a hand with anything.

“It hasn’t been too bad - now that I can ride my own work, my horses are starting to race accordingly.

“It makes it hard when you’ve got to rely on other people, but I do most of my stuff myself so now I’ve got a bit more consistency in my team so it makes it a bit easier.”

Thomson takes horses to tracks all around the region, going as far north as Cooktown and Laura, west out to Richmond and Maxwelton and down south to Mackay.

Salika Diva has proven to be the most consistent runner for the stable in recent times, placing in her last three runs.

Her maiden win came at the start of January 2023, in which Thomson was also in the saddle.

While she has ticked off several wins with the dual licence, Thomson now has her sights set on winning a race with a horse she owns, in the gelding Exsensible.

“When I was training and riding at the same time it was always a big thrill riding your own horses that you train, and winning, and I’ve done that on several occasions,” Thomson said.

“But I think moreseo I’ve got a horse that I actually own myself now so just need to get him to the track sound so I can win a race with him.

“I think that’s going to be my highlight when I get to train my own horse to win.

“I’d like to stick around the country racing more so than anything, I think that’s where my horses are more competitive but I do like to win a few in town every now and then.”

The former Tony Gollan-trained Boomalina has also proven her worth for the stable, posting wins in Mareeba, Cairns and Townsville.

But it was Exceeding Assassin that helped Thomson establish her training base on the outskirts of Townsville in 2017.

The gelding recorded seven wins and eleven placings in a 25-start career before he was retired in 2020.

“When I first moved here there was nothing here, just a house,” Thomson said.

“Exceeding Assassin was pretty handy - he paid for everything and kickstarted everything for me.

“I got the new six stables built up the top and got the walker, and have got my own little arena over here.”

Thomson makes the trip from her Black River home to the Cluden Park stables at 2:30am every morning, before heading home around 7am to get daughter Jenna ready for school.

The 10-year-old is herself involved in the industry, but with a different discipline.

Jenna is a burgeoning barrel racer, having competed in the sport all across the region since she was a three-year-old.

“She’s done pretty good, she sort of worked herself up from scratch and represented North Queensland down at Tamworth, she made it to the finals down there for barrel racing,” Thomson said.

“This year we got off to a bit of a rocky start with weather, we lost a lot of rodeos through the rain and that, but she’s back on song now so hopefully she can get back to Tamworth again.”

Jenna is unlikely to follow her mum into being a jockey or a trainer, but instead has future ambitions of becoming a vet.

She is still motivated by her mother’s temperament when she is facing stiff competition in the barrel racing arena, regularly taking part in the Bartlett Park events on her horse Bolt.

“Whenever she was to fall, she always tries to get back on and keep on riding,” Jenna said.

“I don’t think of anything when I’m racing, it feels like it’s a big dream and it’s not real but once I get out there all the wind is just on my face.

“I just want to get better and go to bigger rodeos.”

Inspiration for the family also comes in the form of former jockey Kristy Banks.

Thomson and Banks were apprentice jockeys together in Toowoomba back in in the early 2000s working for Darryl and Tony Gollan.

Banks was left paralysed from the waist-down after a fall at Clifford Park in 2011, but is now a multiple-time winner at the highest level of barrel racing in the Sunshine State.

“She was a couple of years ahead of me, and when she had her bad fall, it wasn’t real good,” Thomson said.

“She was always a very competitive person and the big thing she didn’t want to stop riding horses.

“So she did everything she could to be able to do something and that’s when she turned to barrel racing.

“She had a special saddle made up that could hold her in the wheelchair, and on the horses - she’s succeeded at that and she’s an inspiration to a lot of people.”