RACING
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VICTORIAN apprentice Ben Thompson got his association with the Southern District off to the best possible start as he guided Court Up In Rio to victory at Murrumbidgee Turf Club on Tuesday.
Thompson was having his first ride in the Southern District and he produced an impressive front-running ride to score on Court Up In Rio ($6.00) in the Chemworks Benchmark 56 Handicap (2500m).
Thompson is apprenticed to Mick Kent at Cranbourne and had planned to link with Wagga trainer Gary Colvin on a three-month loan.
The 17-year-old will juggle his time between Cranbourne and the Southern District for the next six to eight weeks before committing to a full-time move to the Southern District.
Despite delaying the move north, Thompson is still keen to ride as much as possible in the Southern District.
"I was going to move down but Racing Victoria wants me to stay in Victoria for another one to two months," Thompson said.
"In the meantime I'll ride to and from, places near Wagga like Gundagai and Albury I'll ride.
"It all depends on how things go but it will be a great learning experience to come up here.
"What I could hope to do in three months here would take me six to eight months at home.
"I'll just play it by ear."
Colvin was full of praise for Thompson, who no longer claims four kilograms after registering his fifth career win.
Thompson made it a staying test on Court Up In Rio and the lightly-raced five-year-old proved he was up for the fight as he strung the field out and kicked strongly in the straight to score by 5¼ lengths.
Wayward Son ($2.80) had every possible chance but battled on for second place, while Shadow Master ($6.00) worked home to finish a further length back in third.
"Ben rode him a treat," Colvin said.
"He had the race planned and everything panned out the way he wanted it to."
Colvin wanted to race Court Up In Rio at Wodonga on Monday over 2050m but was left out of the race because his rating in Victoria was too high.
Colvin then opted for the 2500m staying test at Wagga and it worked out perfectly.
"He's tough, he's a dead set stayer," Colvin said.
"He was a bit disappointing last start, he ran alright but he had a foot abscess and missed a bit of work.
"We have took our time after that run and we were going to go to Wodonga, he's rated a 56 in NSW but was a 61 in Victoria.
"So we came here and it worked out well."