Just The Judge

Just The Judge (19 April 2010 – April 2019) was an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who won major races in both Europe and North America. She was unbeaten in three starts as a two-year-old in 2012 including the Listed Washington Singer Stakes and the Group Two Rockfel Stakes. In the following year she finished second in the 1000 Guineas before winning the Irish 1000 Guineas and finishing third in the Coronation Stakes. As a four-year-old she produced her best form in North America where she won the E P Taylor Stakes as well as being placed in the Beverly D. Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. After being sold for a record price of 4.5 million guineas at the end of 2014 she was beaten on her only start as a five-year-old and was retired from racing to become a broodmare.

Just The Judge
Racing silks of
Sangster Family and Qatar Racing
SireLawman
GrandsireInvincible Spirit
DamFaraday Light
DamsireRainbow Quest
SexMare
Foaled19 April 2010[1]
CountryIreland
ColourBay or brown
BreederJoan Keaney Dempsey
OwnerSangster Family
Sangster Family & Qatar Racing
Qatar Racing & China Horse Club
TrainerCharles Hills
Record15: 5-1-5
Earnings££762,414[2]
Major wins
Washington Singer Stakes (2012)
Rockfel Stakes (2012)
Irish 1000 Guineas (2013)
E P Taylor Stakes (2014)

Background

Just The Judge is a bay or brown mare with a white star and a white sock on her left foreleg bred in Ireland by Joan Keaney Dempsey. As a yearling in September 2011 the filly was offered for sale at the Goffs Orby sale and was bought for €50,000 by the bloodstock agency BBA Ireland and the trainer Charles Hills.[3] She entered the ownership of the Sangster family and Matthew Green and was taken into training by Hills at Lambourn in Berkshire.

He is from the second crop of foals sired by Lawman who won the Prix du Jockey Club and the Prix Jean Prat in 2006. His other progeny have included Most Improved, Marcel and Harbour Law.[4] Just The Judge's dam Faraday Light showed absolutely no racing ability, finishing tailed-off in both of her races.[5] She was, however, a descendant of the influential Irish broodmare Mesopotamia (foaled 1961), who was the ancestor of many major winners including Halling, Mastery, Balla Cove and Cherokee Rose.[6]

Racing career

2012: two-year-old season

Just The Judge was ridden in all three of her races by her trainer's brother Michael Hills. On her racecourse debut she started the 11/4 joint-favourite for a maiden race over seven furlongs at Newbury Racecourse on 26 June. After being restrained towards the rear of the nine-runner field she began to make progress in the last quarter mile, took the lead inside the final furlong and won by three quarters of a length from Pompeia.[7] On 18 August the filly was moved up in class and matched against male opposition for the Listed Washington Singer Stakes over the same course and distance. Starting at odds of 3/1 she was held up by Hills in the early stages she made "smooth headway" to join the leaders a furlong out and then accelerated to win by a length from the colt Excess Knowledge.[8] After the race a half-share in the filly was bought by Sheikh Fahad Al Thani's Qatar Racing.

After an eight-week break Just The Judge returned in the Group Two Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse on 13 October and started at odds of 6/1 in an eleven-runner field. The Irish-trained Gift From Heaven started favourite started favourite whilst the other runners included Melody of Love (Firth of Clyde Stakes) and Scintillula (runner-up in the Moyglare Stud Stakes). After racing just behind the front-runners she accelerated into the lead approaching the final furlong and kept on well to win by one and three quarter lengths from the Luca Cumani-trained Nargys.[9] Charles Hills commented "She won like a nice filly and Michael said she still had another gear. She has gone away again when she hit the rising ground. She has gone in her coat and had a bad scope following her last run and we had thought of not running today, but I am delighted we decided to give it one more go".[10]

2013: three-year-old season

Jamie Spencer took over as Just The Judge's jockey in 2013 and rode her in all but one of her subsequent races. On her three-year-old debut, Just The Judge was one of fifteen fillies to contest the 200th edition of the 1000 Guineas over the Rowley Mile course at Newmarket on 5 May. Starting the 7/1 third favourite she tracked the leaders before taking the lead inside the final furlong but was overtaken in the final strides and beaten half a length into second place by Sky Lantern. Three weeks after her run at Newmarket, the filly was sent to Ireland and started the 2/1 favourite for the Irish 1000 Guineas at the Curragh. Her fourteen opponents included Big Break (Killavullan Stakes), Maureen (Princess Margaret Stakes, Fred Darling Stakes), Harasiya (Silver Flash Stakes), Just Pretending (Derrinstown Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial) and Rehn's Nest (Park Express Stakes). After settling behind the leaders Just The Judge began to make progress in the last quarter mile, overtook Just Pretending 150 yards from the finish and "stayed on well" to win by one and a half lengths from Rehn's Nest.[11] After the race Hills said "I'm feeling relieved at the moment, but I'm sure I'll wake up in the middle of the night and think it's great. Jamie never really had to pick the stick up and he gave her a beautiful ride".[12]

Just The Judge faced a rematch with Sky Lantern in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot on 21 June. She took the lead approaching the final furlong but was no match for Sky Lantern who accelerated past her to win by four lengths, with Just The Judge losing second place to the French-trained Kenhope in the final strides. She was moved up in distance for the ten-furlong Nassau Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse on 3 August but made no impact and finished unplaced behind Winsili. On er final run of the year, in Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket on 28 September she led the field for most of the way before fading badly and finishing sixth of the seven runners.

2014: four-year-old season

On her debut as a four-year-old Just The Judge was matched against male opposition in the Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket on 17 April and finished fifth behind the eight-year-old gelding Mull of Killough. She returned to female competition and started favourite for the Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Epsom in early but was beaten into third place by the six-year-old Thistle Bird and Odeliz. She faced Thistle Bird again in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh later that month but again proved no match for the older mare and finished third of the eight runners.

For the remainder of the season Just The Judge was campaigned in North America. IN the Grade I Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park on 16 August she had some trouble obtaining a clear run before finishing strongly and taking a close third behind Euro Charline and Stephanie's Kitten. On 19 October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto Just The Judge started 1.6/1 favourite for the E P Taylor Stakes over one and a quarter miles with the best-fancied of her seven opponents being Deceptive Vision (Canadian Stakes) and Odeliz. After being restrained at the rear of the field she began to make progress three furlongs out before being having to be switched to the right hampering a rival in the process, to make space for her challenge. She took the lea a furlong out and despite hanging left and right in the final strides she stayed on to win by half a length from Odeliz.[13] Spencer commented "the race was very unsatisfactory... it was very, very tight where I was. Then she had to make a little bit of room for herself early in the stretch. I was trying to not give her too hard of a race because obviously this is basically a stepping stone to the Breeders' Cup. So the plan was just to win here and ship on down. She's won but I'd prefer if it had gone a little bit smoother."[14]

Two weeks after her win in Canada, Just The Judge was sent to California to contest the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita Park. She stayed on in the straight without being able to reach the lead and finished third behind Dayatthespa and Stephanie's Kitten with the favourite Dank in fourth.

In December Just The Judge was put up for auction at Tattersalls and was bought for 4.5 million guineas by Qatar Racing & China Horse Club.[15] The price was a record for a filly sold at public auction in Britain. As Qatar Racing had previously been partners in the ownership, the sale effectively saw the China Horse Club buying the Sangster Family's share.[16]

2015: five-year-old season

On her first and only start for her new owners Just The Judge started a 28/1 outsider for the Sheema Classic over 2400 metres at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on 28 March. Ridden by Andrea Atzeni she led the field into the straight before fading and finishing sixth of the nine runners behind Dolniya.[17]

After she suffered a tendon injury Just The Judge was retired from racing in July 2015. Hills said "All good things come to an end, but I'm very proud of Just The Judge's achievements. She's been a tremendously sound filly, and with three months' rest could have raced on, but she had nothing else to prove on the racecourse".[18]

Breeding record

Just The Judge produced three foals. She died in April 2019 after undergoing surgery for colic.[19]

Pedigree
Pedigree of Just The Judge (IRE), brown mare 2010[1]
Sire
Lawman (FR)
2004		 Invincible Spirit (IRE)
1997		 Green Desert Danzig
Foreign Courier
Rafha Kris
Eljazzi
Laramie (USA)
1994		 Gulch Mr Prospector
Jameela
Light The Lights Shirley Heights
Lighted Glory
Dam
Faraday Light (IRE)
2003		 Rainbow Quest (USA)
1981		 Blushing Groom Red God
Runaway Bride
I Will Follow Herbager
Where You Lead
Uncharted Haven (GB)
1997		 Turtle Island Fairy King
Sisania
Tochar Ban Assert
Guest Night (Family: 10-c)[6]
gollark: The existing things I know of just use textures for IO as there's not any other way.
gollark: I'm not sure how you'd do it as something which is actually shadery and renders recognizable output.
gollark: There's probably a filesize limit of some kind.
gollark: If you want to be even more cross-platform, apparently you can abuse WebGL to do compute tasks too!
gollark: Minimax or one of the variant things, probably. I couldn't get it to work properly.

References
  1. "Just The Judge pedigree". Equineline.
  2. "Just The Judge - Record By Race Type". Racing Post.
  3. "Goffs Orby Yearling Sale 2011". Racing Post.
  4. "Lawman - Stud Record". Racing Post.
  5. "Faraday Light - Race Record & Form". Racing Post.
  6. "Bonnie Doon - Family 10-c". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  7. "Pumpmatic Pump Stations By Pump Technology Maiden Fillies' Stakes result". Racing Post. 26 June 2012.
  8. "Washington Singer Stakes result". Racing Post. 18 August 2012.
  9. "Rockfel Stakes result". Racing Post. 13 October 2012.
  10. "Just the Judge rules in Rockfel". The Blood-Horse. 13 October 2012.
  11. "Irish 1000 Guineas result". Racing Post. 26 May 2013.
  12. Greg Wood (26 May 2013). "Curragh's big prizes fall to Britain's Just The Judge and Al Kazeem". The Guardian.
  13. "E P Taylor Stakes result". Racing Post. 19 October 2014.
  14. Jack Shinar (19 October 2014). "Just The Judge Earns E. P. Taylor Verdict". The Blood-Horse.
  15. "Tattersalls December Mares Sale 2014". Racing Post.
  16. Ron Mitchell (2 December 2014). "Just The Judge Sells for Record Price". The Blood-Horse.
  17. "Sheema Classic result". Racing Post. 28 March 2015.
  18. David Burn (11 July 2015). "Classic heroine Just The Judge retired". Racing Post.
  19. O'Donoghue, Ollie (30 April 2019). "Charlie Hills leads tributes to Irish Guineas heroine Just The Judge". Racing Post.
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