Continuing his extraordinary form, Le Juge stormed home to take the 2000m Group 3 Chairman’s Handicap at Doomben, defeating stablemate Haripour who was backed into favouritism, but had to settle for third in a gripping three-way finish.
Trainer Chris Waller is extremely pleased with the result, noting that even after this long, yet rewarding preparation, Le Juge looked fantastic in the mounting yard. A horse who is now the winner of nine races, seven of which were during this campaign alone, Le Juge scaled to new heights in Saturday’s Group 3 contest.
Watch the Group 3 winning replay below:
Jockey Robbie Fradd was able to show the horse’s impressive ability to knuckle down and get the job done, finding a way to weave between runners in the straight and hit the lead inside the final 100m, fending off a determined challenge by Igraine.
Winning by half a head, Le Juge is now the 134th stakes winner for his pensioned Juddmonte Farms based sire Dansili. The question now remains as to where he will race next, with Waller looking to make a decision in the coming days.
Not to be outdone by Le Juge’s impressive efforts, stablemate Tom Melbourne maintained his bridesmaid status, running another solid second place to Archedemus at Doomben in the Listed Member’s Handicap over 1600m.
Watch Tom’s second place in the Listed Member’s Handicap below:
Under a strong hold from jockey James McDonald, Tom raced keenly throughout the early and middle stages before doing his best work late and unleashing his sharp turn of foot, however was unable to catch start to finish race leader Archedemus.
The 8yo gelding by Dylan Thomas now brings his record to 13-second places from 43 starts, with his second place strike rate rising to an incredible 30%. We hope to see Tom’s Australia Day winning form resurface in the coming weeks for his next start this preparation.
