Coolmore’s Triple Crown winner Justify (USA) was on the board with a new stakes-winner in North America on Saturday capping what has been an interesting week for him in the Southern Hemisphere with strong sale results in New Zealand and an impressive trial winner in Sydney.
The $100,000 Desi Arnaz Stakes (7f) at Del Mar was won by promising filly Justique, who was a dominant two and a quarter length winner.
Trained by John Shirreffs for C R K Stable, Justique was a TDN Rising Star when winning on debut and was a last start third in the Group II Santa Anita Chandelier Stakes.
She settled at the rear and surged to the line to make it two wins from as many starts.
"I don't try to encourage her away from the gate; I just let her do her thing,” said winning rider Victor Espinoza.
“I just want her to be happy in her races. The idea is to just get her in her rhythm; to let her do it her way. At the half-mile [pole] she started to pick it up. When she wants to, she's quick; very quick. I moved up next to those horses on the turn and in two or three jumps she's in front. She's something. And if she goes longer? I think she'll be better."
Co-bred by John Gunther, who also bred her sire Justify, Justique was a $725,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase and is a half-sister to Group I winner Mo Town being the third winner from Grazie Mille, a winning half-sister by Bernardini to stakes-winner Venetian Mask and Jaguar Paw.
She is the sixth stakes-winner among 23 first crop winners in the Northern Hemisphere for Justify, who remained at Ashford Stud in Kentucky this year.
The first Aussie bred two year-olds by Justify have been in the news with an impressive trial winner at Warwick Farm on Friday and strong results at the NZB Ready to Run Sale where he was the leading sire by average.
Justify had three juveniles average $290,000 with his best result a colt from Santa Clara that made $520,000 for Ohukia Lodge when bought by Morgan Carter Bloodstock for Hong Kong.
The colt is out of winning Foxwedge mare Santa Clara – a half-sister to multiple Group I-winning champion New Zealand two-year-old Anabandana.
He was a super successful pinhook sourced from Inglis Premier for $60,000 from the Morning Rise Stud.
More than a dozen other stakes winners feature on the pedigree page, including the 2010 G1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas heroine King’s Rose, whose dam Nureyev’s Girl is a full-sister to the second dam.
Justify also had a filly from Brilliant Bisc that sold for $210,000 and a colt from Jaipur Princess that sold for $140,000.
At the Warwick Farm trials on Friday, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott took the wraps off Just Glamourous, a lovely filly by Justify out of former star filly Global Glamour, winner of the 2016 Group I Thousand Guineas and Group I Flight Stakes.
She surged to the line to win her 798m heat by a length held together.
Just Glamourous is a half-brother to smart three year-old Scientist and is the second foal of his dam. He was was sold to his trainers, the Waterhouse/Bott team, and Bruce Slade’s Kestrel Thoroughbreds from the Coolmore Stud draft for $900,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
That makes her the most expensive filly sold by her sire in this part of the world and the third highest priced overall.
