STUNNING Australian jockey Stephanie Thornton has been with her boyfriend for nearly three years – but it was five months this summer that felt like the longest time of all.
Loved-up jockeys striking up relationships is nothing new.
Just look at racing’s power couple Hollie Doyle and Tom Marquand as evidence of that.
But where Thornton and her fella Ben Thompson differ is that they had no choice but to spend almost half of 2020 apart.
Coronavirus, Australia’s border closures and Thompson’s own stint riding in Singapore in 2019 meant he and Stephanie were used to a long-distance relationship.
They just did not expect it to continue when both back in their homeland.
Fortunately the pair have now been reunited after Thompson decided to up sticks to be near to Steph.
He said ‘life is too short to be unhappy’ and that he was lovesick missing his partner while she rode and trained more than 1,000 miles away from his Melbourne base.
Speaking of his decision to relocate to be with his girlfriend, Thompson, 23, told racing.com in August: “It was the big motivator.
“We’ve been together for two and a half years but between Covid and my Singapore stint last year, I don’t think either of us thought we’d get to spend so little time together.
“It was coming up to five months since we last saw each other and it was still a big unknown when we would be able to again.
“Life is too short to be unhappy and I thought I’d make the most of the move. We were both very excited.”
Thompson needed border permits to cross through Australia, quarantining in a ‘government-controlled’ hotel en route to meeting Steph in Queensland.
For her part, she looks to be loving being reunited with her man.
Steph floods her Instagram with photos of herself and Ben enjoying their life riding, competing and living together.
And the 21-year-old has seen her career go from strength to strength.
With 228 career wins to date, she has won a whopping £4.6million in prize money and shows no signs of slowing down yet – even if Ben does leave cheesy chat up lines on her Instagram.
In response to one selfie, he wrote: “Are you a parking ticket? Cause you’ve got fine written all over you.”
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