Thompson back for crack

PETER STAPLES

TALENTED young thoroughbred trainer Cameron Thompson is back from a six-week stint in Victoria to be ready for Tasmania’s return to racing from June 13.

Thompson and his wife, Beth, placed themselves into isolation for 14 days when they arrived back in the state last Thursday.

This means Thompson can’t get back into full swing at his training complex at Cressy until Friday week, but he has his father, Lindsay, managing things until his son can return to the stables.

Thompson took a small team to Victoria and stayed at his sister’s property at Colac (near Geelong), but they failed to gain a result from only a handful of starts.

The team included Trojan Storm, who defeated star mare Mystic Journey in a trial in Hobart prior to heading interstate.

“We needed to go because there were going to at least be opportunities to race,” Thompson said.

“But my owners wanted the horses to return to Tassie to be ready to race when we get back racing next month.

“Now that we have a date to restart we can all move forward and it should be onwards and upwards from here, as least as far as the mechanics of the industry are concerned.”

THE three codes held trials last week and they all proceeded without a hitch under bio-security protocols that are very similar to those in place before the industry was shut down on April 2.

Racing was initially put into hibernation for four weeks by Premier Peter Gutwein on the advice of Public Health.

A tentative restart date of May 15 was further extended to June 13, which was announced last Friday week, but with the usual attachment that it is all subject to approval, at the time, from Public Health.

Opposition racing spokesman David O’Byrne said the successful completion of racing trials over the past week showed the industry was ready to resume and should be allowed to do so.

“Right from the start, the shutdown of the industry has made no sense,” Mr O’Byrne said. “Tasmania was the only state or territory to take this drastic step, which came despite the industry itself banning crowds and enforcing nation-leading social distancing restrictions at training facilities and racetracks.

“As a result, we’ve had horses and trainers forced to leave the state, with the latest to go the stallion Needs Further, sire of champion Mystic Journey.

“There is no material difference between the people who need to be on track for a trial or a race meet, and, with spectators banned and strict social distancing measures in place, the threat to the public is far less than industries like the retail sector.”