Just The Judge Well On Top at 4.5 Million Guineas

The hotly anticipated appearance at Tattersalls December of Just The Judge (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) proved to be every bit as thrilling as those who had packed the ring to see Qatar Racing’s first Classic winner had hoped. Sold to her part-owner Sheikh Fahad Al Thani to dissolve a partnership with the Sangster family, the 4-year-old set a new record for a filly in training when knocked down for 4.5 million guineas.

Falling just short of the 4.7 million guineas made by Immortal Verse (Ire) on the corresponding day last year, her price nevertheless helped to lift second-day figures to somewhere close to par with 2013.

A number of expensive buy-backs meant the clearance rate dropped to 73% from 81%, bringing the turnover to 29,188,595gns, a drop of 15% from 12 months ago. The average of 168,720gns was also down, by 7%, while the median fell by 8% to 70,000gns.

By the time Just The Judge stepped into the ring, the Tattersalls pavilion was packed to the rafters, and those that had shown up to see a spectacle were not disappointed. Auctioneer John O’Kelly asked for an opening bid of two million guineas on the striking bay filly, and eventually accepted 500,000gns from Mary Hambro, seated on the opposite side of the ring. The price immediately jumped to 600,000 and, after a brief pause rocketed past the million-guineas barrier, then the two million. Past that point it boiled down to a showdown between Qatar Racing’s Sheikh Fahad, standing beside the back door, and agent James Delahooke, standing alongside Barry Weisbord on the phone beneath the bidders’ cage.

Weisbord lodged the four million bid himself and was quickly countered by a confident Sheikh Fahad at 4.2 million. Weisbord re-rallied at 4.4 million, after which Sheikh Fahad delivered the winning blow. It looked for a fleeting moment as if last year’s record price could be shattered, but Weisbord shook his head when asked for 4.6 million, leaving Sheikh Fahad to take his Classic winner home. Sheikh Fahad and his bloodstock advisor David Redvers shook hands with Teo Ah Khing and Michael Wallace of the China Horse Club after sealing the deal, and Redvers revealed that Just The Judge had been purchased for a new partnership between Qatar Racing and the China Horse Club.

“She’ll continue racing for another year and it’ll be a long-term partnership where she’ll retire to Tweenhills and visit the best stallions in the world,” Redvers said. “She’ll have another four or six runs in her next season where she’ll partake in all the big meetings.”

Trained by Charlie Hills, Just The Judge was a €50,000 Goffs Orby yearling purchase by BBA Ireland and Hills, and she made her first two starts–both wins–for the ownership group of the Sangster Family and Matthew Green.

Qatar Racing replaced Green for her next start, a victory in the 2012 G2 Rockfel S. Just The Judge finished second to Sky Lantern (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}) as the favorite in the G1 1000 Guineas last year, and gained redemption three weeks later in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas to hand Qatar Racing its first Classic score. Third behind Sky Lantern in the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot, Just the Judge added placings in this year’s G3 Princess Elizabeth S., G1 Pretty Polly S. and GI Beverly D. S. before regaining the winning thread in the GI E.P. Taylor S. at Woodbine Oct. 19. She was last seen finishing third, beaten 1 3/4 lengths, in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf Nov. 1.

“She’s as well and been running as well recently as she ever has,” Redvers said. “It was only two starts ago, a month ago, that she won a Grade I. She’s in very good health and very sound.”

When asked if he was tempted to retire her after this campaign, Redvers said, “I can’t wait to send her to stud, in a year’s time. We’ll be making sure she gets the best possible opportunities in the breeding shed as well.”

Expanding on the partnership, he added, “It’s just a one-off deal with one horse. It was something that fitted them and it fitted us because it enabled us to carry on with our first Classic winner.”

He continued, AIf anyone wants to know what a racehorse looks like, she’s the template. She’s supremely athletic, wonderful action, great temperament and she’s just been stunning to be around.”

The China Horse Club’s Wallace, standing alongside a broadly beaming Teo Ah Khing, explained they had entered into discussions with the Qatar Racing team in the leadup to the sale.

“She was a filly that was on everybody’s radar,” Wallace said. “There were discussions that took place and we found Sheikh Fahad and Mr Teo, and Qatar Racing and the China Horse Club, had similar thoughts an ideologies on racing, so it was a nice place to start a partnership.”

He continued, “We’re growing and we’re looking to partake in the elite racing carnivals around the world, and this filly is going to allow us to do that. We look forward to sharing the experience with Sheikh Fahad.”

Wallace said some discussions had taken place regarding Just The Judge’s future racing targets, but the decisions would be left up to Hills, who will keep the filly.

“We’ll leave that up to Charlie,” Wallace said. “He’s in charge. We have some ideas in mind, so we’ll just see how she comes back in the new season and go from there.”

While Just The Judge fell a little shy of Immortal Verse’s overall record, she becomes the highest-priced filly in training ever sold in Britain. She is the third-most expensive horse ever sold in the country, because Immortal Verse and the 4.6-million guineas Magical Romance. She was consigned as lot 1852 by Tweenhills.

This was not the first high-price sale for Just The Judge’s family over the last year. Her Dubawi (Ire) weanling half-sister was hammered down to John Ferguson for 450,000gns at last year’s Tattersalls December Foal Sale, and Shadwell went to 425,000gns for a Lawman filly out of a sister to Just The Judge’s dam, named High Heeled (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) at this year’s renewal of that sale last week. High Heeled was a 600,000gns purchase at this sale in 2009.