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Australian jockey Ben Thompson has informed the Singapore Turf Club he will not be taking up the extension of licence granted to him for the 2020 Singapore racing season.
Thompson recently had his licence renewed for another one year. He is among 11 expatriate jockeys who successfully applied for the job, including eight licensed to ride an entire season.
The lightweight jockey will still see out the current 2019 licence (five meetings left) until the last meeting on 8 December, the Group 3 Colonial Chief Stakes (1600m) day, before taking a flight back to Australia the next day to continue his riding career.
Thompson cited personal reasons for his decision, which he described as one of the toughest he has ever had to make.
"I've made the very tough decision to return home next year. I'm really thankful to the Singapore Turf Club for the opportunity to ride here this year and for renewing me next year, but unfortunately I had to leave for personal reasons," said Thompson.
"It's been an amazing experience riding here. I came here 12 months ago not really knowing what to expect, but I was lucky enough to get good support from a couple of trainers.
"I loved my time here. It was a really good decision to come over."
Thompson said there was no set plan in his home base of Victoria, other than working hard and re-establishing himself in the riding ranks there.
"I'll just head home and try to achieve the same success in Australia. I'll return to Melbourne where I have my usual supporters like Ciaron Maher, Troy Corstens and Robbie Griffiths," he said.
"More importantly, I hope to take away what I've learned here. Singapore has assisted in myself maturing and developing as a person, and definitely made me a better rider.
"I've learned a lot from the different jockeys and the different horses here. It's also given me a chance to learn how to ride on Polytrack, which is so different from turf."
The son of greyhound champion trainer Jason Thompson will be remembered for landing his first Group win when he won the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy (1400m) aboard the Cliff Brown-trained Mister Yeoh at a two-day visit in November 2018.
The 22-year-old Victorian came back for a full season in 2019 and has done relatively well to sit in seventh place on the Singapore jockey's premiership on 27 winners from 406 rides, including two more feature wins in the Group 2 Stewards' Cup (1600m) on What's New and the Group 3 Moonbeam Vase (1600m) on Elite Excalibur, both for Brown again.
"I can't split between the Barker and the Stewards' Cup for the highlight of my stay. They're both memorable for different reasons," said Thompson who now boasts close to 320 winners to his tally.
"Obviously, my first Group win on Mister Yeoh at my first visit here was a huge thrill. It was surreal, and my dad was here.
"But for What's New in the Stewards' Cup, it was great to win a major feature race for Cliff, who has been one of my main supporters here.
"It's goodbye for now, but I'd be hoping to come back for feature meetings here in the future and would also consider another long-term stay."
