For Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Bulletin, Saturday night’s $125,000 William Walker at Churchill Downs was intended to be a perfunctory stepping stone to next month’s Royal Ascot meet in England. However, trainer Wesley Ward, who has achieved the most success at Royal Ascot than any American horseman, perhaps halted those plans when his filly, Jo Jo Air, led a string of longshots across the wire in the five-furlong turf sprint for three-year-olds.
The only filly in the field of seven after Ward scratched the more highly-regarded Abyssinian earlier in the evening, Jo Jo Air applied steady pressure to Bulletin from the start, passed the 1-10 favorite in upper stretch and came home three-quarters of a length ahead of 20-1 chance Uncapped. Legends of War, who started at 11-1, edged Bulletin for third by a head.
Owned by Andrew Farm and Mrs. Charlie O’Connor, Jo Jo Air paid $30.40 after completing the course in :58.86 on firm ground.
“Wesley Ward told me she was definitely right today,” jockey John Velazquez said. “We sort of sat the perfect trip all the way around there. Turning to the three-eighths pole, I started to make my move and she really dug in and responded gamely. It was a good kickoff to Derby Week.”
It was the first career loss in four starts for Bulletin, who was wheeling back 23 days after taking his season debut in the $100,000 Palisades Turf Sprint at Keeneland.
“He was sort of flat the entire way around there. Maybe he ran back too quickly,” jockey Javier Castellano said.
Fourth to eventual graded winner Concrete Rose in her debut at Saratoga last August, Jo Jo Air next trailed the field in the $200,000 Indian Summer at Keeneland. Shedding blinkers for her juvenile finale, Jo Jo Air broke her maiden by more than five lengths in a grass sprint at Fair Grounds in November. Jo Jo Air had last raced on January 11, finishing fourth in an allowance at Gulfstream Park after an early bump. She’s now earned $106,621.
Bred in Kentucky and a $325,000 Keeneland September buy, Jo Jo Air is by Scat Daddy and out of Tessie Flip, a Grand Slam half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Switch.
