The Thompson family has been a major player in the TAB Melbourne Cup for almost three decades.
Between Jason Thompson and his wife Seona, they have prepared 23 Cup finalists for four wins (Jason with Light Of Fire in 1994, Got A Moment in 2012 and Black Magic Opal in 2013, Seona with Aston Dee Bee in 2017) and six minor placings. Their son Ben has handled Got A Moment to her Cup victory, and now their youngest son Luke is hoping to add another chapter to the family’s Cup tradition.
“We prepare for this time of the year and try to have a couple of runners heading towards the Melbourne Cup,” said Luke, pictured above with his favourite greyhound, Aussie Secret.
“It’s a race dad always wants to win – if there was only one race he could win it is the Melbourne Cup. We have a couple of good chances in the Preludes so hopefully they are able to progress to the heats.”
Luke, 19, has been a mainstay on race and trial days since joining the family operation full-time after finishing school almost 12 months ago and will be on handling duties alongside his father on Thursday night. And it’ll be a busy night for the Thompsons with five runners aiming to qualify for the Cup heats on Friday 20th November.
TAB is offering a market on the number of Thompson winners at Sandown Park tonight. Here’s Luke’s thoughts on each of the Thompson runners tonight:
Immunity (race 2 number 1, $1.65) – “She’s perfectly drawn there, and going back to the two waves will help her as well because she can play up a bit in the boxes. There’s not too much pace on her immediate outside so if she’s able to jump and kick through she should be hard to beat. She’s only about a 5.05 at her absolute best type of dog but when she’s out in front she’s very hard to run down.”
Wild Card (race 5 number 2, $4) – “His last two or three months he’s really surprised us. Of his last 11 starts he’s won eight of them including six in a row at one point including a 29.82 at The Meadows and 29.46 at Sandown. The penny has really dropped with him, he’s drawn well in box 2 and hopefully he can show good box manners. Hopefully he’s drawn nice.”
Aussie Secret (race 6 number 6, $3.80) – “He’s drawn perfect in that he’s drawn out wide, but the dog on his immediate outside (Jay Bird) wants to cross to the fence so hopefully he can jump and miss him. He’s a very distinctive dog, he’s got floppy ears and a curled up tail. He was a really nice dog when he first came to the kennel and I’ve handled him every start but and along the way we’ve developed a nice relationship.”
Aston Silk (race 7 number 6, $6.50) – “She’s coming off a nice win at Sale and before that had a nice campaign in South Australia where she made the Gawler Cup final and ran a nice fourth. She has good box manners, if she’s able to jump cleanly hopefully break them apart them apart down the back and hold them off late.”
Zipping Bram (race 9 number 8, $2.90) – “It wasn’t ideal last week being a late scratching on vets advice but it is what it is. He’s trialled since and has been re-vetted and given the all clear. Dad was tossing and turning whether to go 500m or 600m but decided to go the Prelude route. He’s drawn ideally out wide, he hasn’t got a lot of early pace but the dog inside him Mepunga Isla likes to get down to the fence so he’ll have plenty of room to muster early and hopefully he can lob on the leader’s back or not far from them. His run there at Sandown when he ran 34.23 was on a cold, wet night and was a very powerful run so with a clear run he’ll be strong late.”
Best of the night – “I have to go Immunity. She’s very well drawn and has shown throughout her career she can run very quick times, first at Shepparton and then her 29.13 at Sandown. If she can hold them through the first corner she should be hard to beat.”
While Thompson rates Immunity as the kennel’s best chance of the night, he was definitive about who he’d like to be handling the following week.
“For personal reasons it’d be Aussie Secret because of the relationship we have. We have a very close bond, hopefully he can go well on Thursday night and advance to the heats. If he can make the final it’d be a huge thrill.”
The $630,000 TAB Melbourne Cup will be run on Friday 27th November.
The four dog Shootout highlights Thursday night’s card, with Shima Shine, Christo Bale, Hard Style Rico and Tiggerlong Tonk vying for the $25,000 winner-takes-all prize and title of Australia’s fastest sprinter.
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*Prices quoted correct at 9am on 12/11/20. Visit tab.com.au for latest prices
