JOHN THOMPSON BEGINS THE NEW SEASON IN WINNING VEIN

Melanite (Kerrin McEvoy) capitalised on a perfect run to beat Cosy Corner and Bangkok Hottie in Saturday's Midway - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

John Thompson has come out with all guns blazing in the first week of the new racing season. The quietly spoken fifty three year old saddled up two runners at Wednesday’s Canterbury Park meeting and was chuffed to see both Clear Proof and Doradus win with authority. His momentum continued at Randwick on Saturday when lightly raced four year old Melanite capitalised on a cosy run to snare the BM72 Midway.

Melanite’s jockey Kerrin McEvoy couldn’t believe his luck at the 600m when he was tucked away behind a wall of five leaders. Sneaky Sofia, Let’s Go Again, Shall Be, favourite Bangkok Hottie and Century Song cornered together with Melanite poised behind them on the inside of Twinkling Star. Leader Sneaky Sofia had been a horse off the fence all the way and to McEvoy’s delight rolled out even further on topping the rise, leaving a tantalising inside run. Melanite showed a sharp turn of foot to dash through the opening and put the race beyond doubt in a few strides. He held out fast closing Cosy Corner with Bangkok Hottie third after looking a distinct threat at the 200m. It was Kerrin McEvoy’s first ride on Melanite and one of very few in recent years for the Thompson stable. “His record speaks for itself and he’s a very good communicator both before and after the race,” said John Thompson. “He’s had commitments to other Randwick trainers in recent years and isn’t always easy to get. I’ll certainly be using him again.”

Melanite, in the dazzling Ascot Bloodstock silks holds out Cosy Corner in Saturday's 1100m Midway - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

Melanite was a $140,000 2024 Magic Millions purchase which qualified him for a $250,000 maiden on the Gold Coast on January 17th of this year. He hadn’t won in four starts at his first two preparations, but went close in one of them, going under narrowly in a Hawkesbury 2YO maiden at the the tailend of the 2024/2025 season. The gelding resumed after a lengthy spell late last year with two solid trial performances which prompted John to aim up for the rich 1100m maiden on Magic Millions day. With Victorian jockey Ethan Brown on board, Melanite began brilliantly from a wide gate and raced at the girth of the leader Quickzou to the top of the straight. He let down brilliantly on straightening to dash clear before scoring an emphatic win from Splash of Steel and Zoufame. That same turn of foot was again evident at Randwick on Saturday. The Gold Coast run may have taken the edge off the gelding because he raced a little flat at his next couple of runs, and John made the call to get him back into the paddock pronto.

Melanite resumed with a soft trial win at Randwick in mid June and followed that with two close thirds on heavy ground in Cl 1 company at Hawkesbury and Gosford. With those two runs under his belt and on more favourable ground on Saturday, the four year old was very effective. John was chuffed to win a race at headquarters for good friend Wilf Mula whose Aston Bloodstock races Melanite with a group of company clients. Aston’s dazzling pink and black silks have been sported by several talented horses in recent years including Mamaragan who promised so much early in his career but failed to follow up. “He got us pretty excited with a first up win in the Gr 2 Skyline Stakes followed by third placings in the Golden Slipper and Sires Produce,” recalled John. “He ran good races in stakes company as a three year old but always had some issues and wasn’t able to recapture that early form. He’s still going in northern Queensland as a nine year old, and won a race recently at Wondai.”

Aston Bloodstock founder Wilf Mula was keen to hear Kerrin McEvoy's comments after Melanite's win - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

A member of John’s forty horse team at Randwick is a maiden three year old called Nomadic who has become something of a celebrity lately. John went to $160,000 to purchase the colt in conjunction with Boomer Bloodstock at the 2025 Inglis Classic Sale. “I had hell’s own job trying to syndicate him for a while,” Thompson recalled. “His sire King’s Legacy was well regarded but his dam was a virtually unknown daughter of Shaft. I bought him on type rather than pedigree. He ticked every box as far as conformation was concerned and I thought that alone would appeal. I sold a few shares early on but then business slowed to a trickle until his half sister ran second in a stakes race at Eagle Farm in June last year. We gradually sold the remaining shares by which time that half sister was rocketing to the top of the charts. As we speak Sheza Alibi has won a Gr 3, two Gr 2’s, and two Gr 1’s. Her Doncaster win left people in disbelief.”

While Sheza Alibi has been creating headlines around the country, Nomadic has been quietly demonstrating that he’s inherited some of the family’s talent. All of his four runs to date have been in black type races, and he’s been far from disgraced in all four - 8th in the listed Lonhro Plate beaten under 6 lengths, 8th in the Gr 2 Todman Stakes beaten under 5 lengths, 3rd in the Gr 3 T.L. Baillieu only 1.2 lengths from Southend, and 5th in the Gr 1 Champagne Stakes just over 4 lengths from Fireball. “I’m heartened by what he’s shown so far as a very immature colt,” says John. “He came back from a spell looking bigger and stronger and his work has been very good. He had a quiet trial at Rosehill last week and will have another one before we look for a starting point. Expect to see him step up as we get him out in distance.”

Sheza Alibi's half brother Nomadic before the Todman Stakes in March. His maiden win isn't far away - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

John is especially chuffed at the moment to be training four horses for the iconic veteran Neville Begg. Most of the maestro’s gallopers are prepared by son Graeme at the Cranbourne training centre in Victoria, but Neville still lives in Sydney and has been anxious to have a small number of his horses trained closer to home. “Not only is it a great honour to have his horses in my stable, but his regular visits are a delight for me and all my team,” said John. “Neville is 95 years old but still getting around well, and as sharp as a tack. His regular visits to the stable are a delight for me and all my team. I should add he’s an absolute pleasure to train for. He’s always available for consultation but leaves it entirely to me.”

The four Thompson trained horses to carry the well known Begg colours of black, white armbands, and red cap are shaping up well. Three year old filly Yvonne’s Joy was just over 2 lengths from Scintillation at Randwick last start and looks to be nearing a win. Three year old gelding I’m Relevant won his maiden at Wyong recently and is clearly on the rise. Two time winner Jacob’s Ladder is showing enough to suggest another win is likely, while four year old mare All Too Clever has been just behind the placegetters at her last two outings. John’s hopeful he can find the right maiden for her shortly. Interesting to note that Yvonne’s Joy, I’m Relevant and Jacob’s Ladder are all by Written By, a horse bred and raced by Begg And Partners before going to stud. Neville received one of his biggest racing thrills eight years ago when Written By won the Gr 1 Blue Diamond and the Gr 3 Pago Pago Stakes before finishing fourth to Estijaab in the Golden Slipper.

The evergreen Neville Begg congratulates Reece Jones after the jockey's win on Gracias Amigo at Warwick Farm 31/05/2023. John Thompson trained the gelding - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

John Thompson is a fourth generation horse trainer who learned his craft under some legendary horsemen. He spent six years with his father Vic Thompson Jnr at Warwick Farm before accepting a foreman’s role at Randwick for Bill Mitchell at a time when topliners like General Nediym, Kenwood Melody and Dignity Dancer were in the stable. John got to look after Dignity Dancer in Melbourne in 1999 when the Zabeel gelding won the Alister Clark, Aami Classic, Australian Guineas treble. A little later he jumped at the opportunity to work for Bart Cummings when Matthew Smith vacated the coveted foreman’s role. John still regards his eight years under the tutelage of the master as the best learning curve of his entire career.

John spent 8 years with training icon Bart Cummings. Here he is with the maestro at Randwick way back in 2006 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

It’s well documented that John had little option but to move on when offered a seemingly career changing position with Nathan Tinkler’s emerging Patinack Farm empire in 2008 - an offer that put him in charge of 120 well credentialled thoroughbreds. It’s now history that in one season he finished third on the Australian trainer’s list behind Peter Moody and Peter Snowden. In that same season John was the nation’s leading trainer of two year olds. The much publicised Patinack collapse eighteen months later left him in the most difficult situation of his life. His emergence as one of Sydney’s most respected trainers in recent years is one of racing’s most touching stories. He can be enormously proud of his 1080 career wins including 7 Gr 1’s, 22 Gr 2’s, 25 Gr 3’s and 38 at listed level. In this era of gargantuan racing operations, John’s team of just forty horses is a tiny muster. It is guaranteed however that every one of the horses in that team will have the chance to deliver optimum performance.