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If not for border closures and COVID concerns, legendary Australian jockey Robert Thompson might have just ridden off into the sunset at one of his favourite tracks – Cairns’ Cannon Park.
Born in Cessnock and synonymous with that area of NSW, the 63-year-old also had a special place in his heart for the north of Queensland.
It was not just Cairns' Cannon Park, it was also Cluden Park in Townsville or Innisfail's Pease Park – he was a regular in the Sunshine State for many a year, winning most of the premier races on offer.
The respected hoop called time on his career in the saddle earlier this week, with the Hall of Famer opting to retire after having his last ride in July of this year.
The most winningest jockey in the history of Australian racing - 4447 triumphs – won the Cairns Cup on six separate occasions, as well as having a Cairns Newmarket, a Cairns Amateurs Cup, a Townsville Cup, an Innisfail Cup, a Johnston River Handicap, among other NQ feature races on his impressive resume.
As Robert Thompson detailed earlier this week, the seven time Group-1 winner was hanging out for one more trip to Far North Queensland before officially stepping away from race riding.
"I've been thinking about it for a while,'' Thompson said.
"After my last ride I was trying desperately to get to Queensland to ride in September (Cairns Amateurs Racing Carnival) but COVID beat me."
While Thompson did not get back to his beloved Cannon Park for the carnivals of 2020 and 2021 – it might just be as fitting an ending he received back in 2019.
In his final riding venture to North Queensland, Thompson and The Harrovian created history by becoming the first horse to secure a TAB Queensland Northern Crowns Series bonus with victory in the FNQ Amateurs Cup in Cairns.
Two of those Cairns Cups across his career were won with the Stephen Massingham stable, on The Harrovian in his triple crown triumph in 2019 and with Magnum Forty Four in 2011, and the premier FNQ-based trainer first got to know the legend rider through another racing code.
"We had an association with RT well before we won the Cup in 2011 because we were in the trotters before those days and a great mate of mine had a few trotters with him," Massingham said on Wednesday morning.
"Robbie owned a few trotters in those days, they had a syndicate those guys around Newcastle.
"That is how we first got to know him and it went from there."
Massingham spoke with Thompson on Monday evening after hearing the news of his retirement, with the former rider declaring he had really missed his Cairns trips over the last few years, blaming COVID for his absence.
