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Can lightning strike twice?

22 August 2018

On Friday, Judicial lines up for the Coolmore Nunthorpe, one of only two Group 1 races over five furlongs run in Britain during the season. The homebred six-year-old has won his last two races, including the Group 3 Coral Charge at Sandown last month. He is due to take on the odds-on favourite, Battaash, and Group 1 winner, Blue Point in the feature sprint at York's Ebor meeting.

Twelve months ago, Judicial's half-sister, Marsha, triumphed in this race following one of the most dramatic finishes of 2017. Frankie Dettori had set sail on the favourite, Lady Aurelia, who led everywhere except the final few inches, as Luke Morris forced Marsha ahead in the shadow of the post. The Sir Mark Prescott-trained filly's head was in the right place at the right time and landed the spoils, much to Dettori's chagrin, as he punched the air in delight. The commentator was unsure of the result and the result of the photo finish soon declared Marsha had triumphed.

Luke Morris will again be donning the Club's famous black and white colours on Friday aboard Judicial, who is trained in Malton, North Yorkshire, by Julie Camacho. After winning all three races as a juvenile when trained by Roger Charlton, Judicial has won a further eight races for the Camachos, including at Group 3 level on 7th July. Just one more win for the prolific sprinter will see him draw level as the Club's winning-most horse, a position currently held by the Club's former sprinter, Eisteddfod.

Judicial is best when returning from a break, and heads to York having not run since his Sandown victory. Julie bypassed an intended target in Ireland at the beginning of the month in order to keep him fresh for this race, which we hope will prove a good decision come Friday afternoon. As usual, he will be led to the start by Julie's husband, Steve Brown, who leaves no stone unturned to ensure that Judicial is prepared to perfection for each race. We hope his trainer's contentious approach will be rewarded this week, and Marsha's sibling can pull off an incredible and unlikely double for the Club Breeding Programme.