John Thompson is banking on the natural gate speed of Jojo Was A Man helping to offset a wide draw when the horse bids for a maiden black-type win in the Hawkesbury Gold Cup.
The five-year-old will jump from the second outside barrier in the 16-horse field if there are no more scratchings, and while that is a tough ask for many horses, Thompson says it doesn’t spell the end for his charge.
“There are three leaders in the race, he’s one of them so he’ll go forward and hopefully make his own luck,” Thompson said.
“He’s had a couple of runs over shorter distances and he’s up to his pet mile. This race and the Scone Cup have been earmarked for him and he’s going well.”
JoJo Was A man finished fifth over 1400m at Randwick last Saturday and it was a deliberate ploy to run him at Hawkesbury seven days later.
“He builds into his preparation and he’s a great back-up horse,” Thompson said.
New barn mate Surreal Step will make his debut for the stable in the Hawkesbury Gold Rush (1100m) less than a week after arriving on Thompson’s doorstep.
The gelding mixed his form over the summer, his best effort a fourth in the Canterbury Sprint (1200m) and Thompson hopes a rain-affected track will boost his prospects.
“He’s related to a horse I’ve got for the owner (Surreal Leo) so I have followed him with a bit of interest,” he said.
“He had a nice gallop here on Tuesday, Keagan Latham galloped him and he went well so he seems to have come over in great shape.
“If you read through his form he seems very adept on wet tracks and he gets that on Saturday.”
More Prophets rounds out Thompson’s black-type runners in the Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) and continues her run of wide barriers, drawing gate 15 in the field of 14 and four emergencies.
She has been racing well in top company over the autumn without much luck but Thompson says she will only line up if the track doesn’t deteriorate from its soft rating.