‘Working holiday’: Another Thornton joins Brisbane roster
THERE is a new Thornton in town, at least for the time being.
Group 1-winning hoop Damien Thornton will call Brisbane home temporarily as he looks to escape Victoria’s bitterly long winter.
He will join sister Stephanie and brother Boris in the jockeys’ room in the lead-up to the winter carnival.
The lightweight rider is the latest of the Thornton family to make the move north.
Father Glenn also trained in Queensland, while brother-inlaw Ben Thompson is locked in a tight battle for the jockeys’ premiership against Jimmy Orman.
Thornton said a change of scenery, not a lack of opportunity in Victoria, prompted his move north as he weighed up where his future lay.
“It’s temporary at the moment, a bit of a working holiday, so we will see how we go for a while,” he said.
“I rode down there in Melbourne in the Newmarket but then I have come up here looking for something a bit different, a change of scenery.
“I want to try and get some momentum up before winter. It is a working holiday for me.”
Thornton booted home his first Queensland winner at
Eagle Farm last Wednesday and is already getting support from the likes of Chris Waller, Matt Dunn, Rob Heathcote, and his father Glenn, who trains out of the Gold Coast.
Looking to add to his two Group 1s, Thornton said he wanted to build a strong base in Brisbane for the winter, rather than work on a fly-in, fly-out arrangement.
“I can’t stand the cold weather, so getting out of Melbourne
was pretty attractive at this time of year,” he said.
“The majority of us (Thorntons) are up here, but that’s not the reason I have come up here really.
“I just saw it as a nice opportunity to change it up a little bit. I can ride at 53kg every week and I can ride lighter in the big races, too.”
Thornton has six rides booked for Doomben on Wednesday.