Jojo Was A Man breaks drought with Winter Challenge upset at Rosehill

It’s been a quiet season by John Thompson but the tide is turning for the Randwick trainer with a midweek double and victory in the Winter Challenge at Rosehill.

Reece Jones guides Jojo Was A Man to victory in the Listed Winter Challenge at Rosehill. Picture: Getty Images

A midweek city double including a $101 winner and then success in the final Sydney stakes race of the season signalled a welcome change of fortune for trainer John Thompson.

Jojo Was A Man, with rider Reece Jones wearing the famous all red and white cap synonymous with the Tait family, capped a memorable week for Thompson with a deserved big-race win in the Listed $200,000 Winter Challenge (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.

Thompson admitted this season hasn’t been his stable’s best but Jojo Was A Man, named after The Beatles’ classic Get Back, has the trainer - to borrow a line from the hit song - “back to where you once belonged.”

“We haven’t had a great season, we’ve had a lot of seconds so it’s been frustrating, but you have those runs in this game,” Thompson said.

Jojo Was A Man scores his first win since December 2022 and winds back the clock to take the Listed Winter Challenge! 💥

Well done to @JTRacingRwik and jockey Reece Jones. pic.twitter.com/CvRg8AHunR

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 20, 2024

■ J-Mac lands title blow with Rosehill double

“You just have to keep working hard and in the last month or so, the results have started to kick in.”

Thompson had a city winner with Emmadella at Rosehill late last month then a midweek double at Kensington last Wednesday with promising Bundeena and debut two-year-old Clear Proof at $101.

Jojo Was A Man was a $31 outsider for the Winter Challenge but Thompson felt the sprinter was over the odds and the trainer anticipated a vastly improved showing from the sprinter.

“We felt Jojo Was A Man has been going well but the tracks have been just too wet for him,” Thompson said.

“He gets through it alright but he’s better if the tracks are not too heavy.

“All his gallops going into his last runs were on real heavy grasses and Reece galloped him on Tuesday on a somewhat drier grass and the difference was incredible.

“Even Reece said, ‘he will be hard to beat on Saturday’. You could see the horse today, he accelerated, that’s the difference.”

Jojo Was A Man was given the run of the race by Jones and held off the fast-finishing More Secrets ($21) to win by a half length with Charterhouse ($11) also running on well for third, less than a length from the winner.

War Eternal was sent out the $2.90 favourite but didn’t have the same finishing speed as recent runs and was two lengths away in fifth position.

Jones also revealed his confidence rose after riding Jojo Was A Man trackwork earlier in the week.

Three-in-a-row for @schofieldchad! 🏅🏅🏅

And a double for @JTRacingRwik if you don't mind 👏

Bundeena was too strong late in Race 4 at Randwick Kensington pic.twitter.com/evuJxqI8Os

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 17, 2024

■ Progressive sprinter Jedibeel proving real force

“I thought his last run showed he was starting to run back to a bit of form,” Jones said.

“Then his work on Tuesday was really strong and it gave me a lot of comfort coming into today.”

Jojo Was A Man had been unplaced in all five runs this campaign and had not won a race since New Year’s Eve, 2022, before bouncing back to form at Rosehill.

Thompson also said Jojo Was A Man had legitimate excuses at Randwick last start.

“He was travelling well and we were exposed a little bit early at Randwick the other day, the horse in front of us came back in our face and we had to go four-deep and go too early,” Thompson said.

“He loomed, but today he just got that nicer run in transit. Reece rode him very well.”

Thompson said it is likely Jojo Was A Man will be spelled now and then set for big money races like The Hunter and The Ingham later in the year.

Jojo Was A Man’s dam, Jo Jo Girl is owned by the Tait family after being purchased online for just $3000.

Jo Jo Girl won six races including a Randwick win over 2500m before being retired to stud.

She was served twice by leading stallion Al Maher with her first foal, Jo Jo Was A Man now a stakesiwnner and his younger full sister, California Grass already a three-time winner for the Thompson stable.

Ollie Tait, the Twin Hills Stud supremo and part-owner of Jojo Was A Man, said Jo Jo Girl has since produced a two-year-old by Hallowed Crown, a yearling colt and then a weanling filly by Shamus Award, and the mare is due to produce a Kermadec foal in spring.

Tait confirmed Jojo Was A Man was named after The Beatles’ classic. “You can say all the owners are Beatles fans now!” he said.

Originally published as Jojo Was A Man breaks drought with Winter Challenge upset at Rosehill