Just the Judge will face 15 rivals in Sunday’s Irish One Thousand Guineas at
The Curragh as she bids to regain the winning thread. Beaten a half-length by
Sky Lantern when runner-up at Newmarket May 5 in the One Thousand Guineas, the
Charlie Hills trainee carries stable confidence as she looks to provide her
conditioner with a first classic success.
“We’d have to be pretty optimistic, as she’s come out of the race well and
she ran her heart out there doing it the hard way,” commented the son of the
famed Barry Hills, who carried off this prize in 1993 and 1999. “She has the
advantage of having had that run and this is more of a galloping track which
will suit her. That is what attracted us to this race.
“She’s fit and well, it’s a classic and there is no point in bypassing it.
We’re drawn two, so we’re on the rail. We’ll just jump her out, we don’t want to
be trapped two deep on that rail so I imagine we’d go slightly forward.”
Sixth in that Newmarket classic was Fred Darling winner Maureen, and the
stable companion of Sky Lantern was proving that she stays this trip with a
strong finishing effort there.
“We weren’t sure going into Newmarket whether she would stay the mile, but
she finished the race off better than anything,” Richard Hannon Jr. said. “We
can be a little bit handier and, though she has a few lengths to find with Just
the Judge, we think that she has a good each-way chance.”
There were no surprises at Friday’s declaration stage, with One Thousand
Guineas fifth Snow Queen set to sport a visor for the first time as she heads a
trio from Ballydoyle.
Of Aidan O’Brien’s trio, Just Pretending could be one with the most to offer
having made rapid progress in a hood, and she showed when winning the
Derrinstown Stud One Thousand Guineas Trial at Leopardstown last time May 12
that she possesses the fight for this type of race.
Trainer Dermot Weld knows what it takes to win the Irish One Thousand
Guineas, and the master of Rosewell House has been making some encouraging
noises about Big Break ahead of the latest edition of the Curragh classic.
Successful four times since 1982, the veteran of the Irish training scene has
been patient with Khalid Abdullah’s full sister to the voracious pattern-race
scorer Famous Name and kept her away from the earlier demands of the Newmarket
or Longchamp equivalents.
While she would prefer a better draw than the outside post she has received
and the testing ground on which she emerged center stage in Leopardstown’s
Killavullan over seven furlongs in October, the homebred has the class to adapt.
“It’s probably too firm for her, but I’d be more concerned with the draw,”
Weld commented. “She’s a good filly and is very well, so we just hope she gives
a good account of herself.”
Another who would prefer the soft ground so often prevalent in this country
is the May 6 Athasi scorer Viztoria, who had Ballydoyle’s Snow Queen 7 1/2
lengths in arrears in the Blenheim over six furlongs here in September.
Trainer Eddie Lynam told PA Sport, “She’s unbeaten here in Ireland and the
only time she has been beaten was in France (in the Criterium de
Maisons-Laffitte). She’s in very good form and everything has gone according to
plan. Obviously it will be a very tough race and we’ve got that very good filly
from England, Charlie Hills’ Just the Judge. She has got a very good chance and
looks the one we all have to beat.”
Trainer John Oxx relies on a pair of smart fillies in Harasiya and What
Style, but the former who sports the silks of the Aga Khan needs easier ground
than she is likely to get here. It was soft when she won the Silver Flash over
seven furlongs at Leopardstown in July, while What Style will prefer these
conditions to the testing ones she encountered when second in the April 14
Leopardstown One Thousand Guineas Trial on only her second start.
“Harasiya is a good filly, but may have a preference for softer ground,” Oxx
told PA Sport. “She has been a little slow to come to hand, but is pretty ready
and we’ll have to see how she goes on what we hope will be good ground.
“What Style ran very well in second in the Guineas Trial at Leopardstown,
when I didn’t think she’d like the soft ground. This is a big step up again for
her and she has a bit to find, but fast ground should suit her. Both her and
Harasiya should enjoy a step up to a longer distance in due course.”
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