We are delighted to have purchased the stunning and very exciting dual-purpose prospect ‘Judge and Jury’, who was secured on our behalf at the recent Tattersalls Horse In Training sale by Denis Hogan & Colm Sharkey. Prior to the sale we had asked Denis to find us a horse which he felt would make an ideal dual-purpose performer, and could give his owners the option to race throughout all seasons on both the flat and over jumps and who ideally would also have the potential of going juvenile hurdling in the near future. We are delighted to say Denis really came through for us by not only ticking all the boxes in securing a beautiful racey looking individual who also has the size, power and scope to excel over jumps also, whilst he managed to do all this at a fraction of the budget we had given him to go to the sale with.

This is a type of horse that Denis does extremely well with, being one of Ireland’s leading dual purpose trainers for some years now he has achieved lots of high profile success in both codes throughout his illustrious training career to date, Denis has especially had remarkable success with horses he has purchased from the leading owners dispersals sales each year namely Godolphin, Juddmonte and Shadwell. With high profile recent examples being Make a Challenge a £6,500 purchase who has now won over £185,000 in prize money and still going strong as is Sceptical a £2,800 purchase who had amassed over £125,000 in prize money already and was only just touched of in this years renewal of the G1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot and also the G1 Darley July Cup at Newmarket. Another exciting candidate making his rise through the ranks for Denis is Dalvey who cost £6,500 also and has already won double his purchase cost in the first 6 weeks of his racing career and who Denis tells us could be another top level performer in the near future the way he is shaping. When Denis purchased Judge and Jury for us he was purchased using the same criteria which was used to select all of the above and his outstanding pedigree means all options should certainly be open to him going forward.

Judge And Jury is by The Group 1 winning stallion Zoffany who himself is by the all mighty sire of sires Dansili. Zoffany has already had numerous progeny who have won or operate at Group 1 level on the flat including Albigna, Ventura Storm and Fleeting. What is also impressive is Zoffany has also already shown great potential for producing exciting jump performers with the likes of Sir Psycho for Paul Nicholls being a high profile example last season. Judge And Jury’s dam Raggety Ann is by the legendary Galileo who needs no introduction and is a full sister to Group 3 winner Dress Rehearsal and hails from the family that has produced Muthmir, My Titania and Majestic Queen. On the whole the pedigree has a good mix of speed and stamina. The Zoffany x Galileo cross has already showed winners on both codes with horses such as Sherpa and Lyzbeth on the flat whilst Dalton Highway and The Statesman won over both codes for good measure. It is worth noting that Judge and Jury cost a staggering £110,000 as a yearling but never ran as a 2yo which is no surprise looking at his pedigree as the majority of his relatives only comes into there own at the age of 3yo plus, having said that a lot of the big operations buy to have 2yo runners and if they do not make the cut are more often than not put back up for sale to make way for the next crop of yearlings coming in and it is going through and studying these type of horses that Denis excels at buying. Denis feels the only reason this horse never made it to the track was because of his very coltish behaviour which is why we had him gelded as soon as we got him home and after a week of rest and relaxation he is now back in training and fitting into Denis way of doing things with no issues what so ever.

Denis has been on the horse himself thus far as he likes to get a gauge of his new stock coming in and has reported him to be a beautiful horse that most likely found the hustle and bustle of a busy Newmarket yard a bit much at his young age and is already settled in well for him and it is a case of so far so good with this lad who we all feel has been bought for exceptional value, the reason for which has likely a lot to do with the current global situation owing to the Covid-19 virus which has created somewhat of a buyers market and what was interesting to note was the lack of buyers at the sale from the middle-east and Australia due to travel restrictions which is where a lot of horses of Judge and Jury’s calibre end up being bought to go to.

Denis Hogan is a trainer we here at Pioneer know very well and have long admired for his ability to get big performances from relatively cheap purchases. Denis has been going from strength to strength with each season being better than his last, and what really stands out is that last season Denis with a relatively small string of horses had the distinction of finishing the season in the top 10 trainers for not only the flat but also the jumps championship leaderboards. This year he shows no signs in slowing down with his best start to a season ever and has been represented extremely well by flagbearers and leading sprinters Make a challenge and Sceptical and a very successful Galway festival with plenty more to come.

Shares start from (upfront purchase fee includes -Purchase price, bloodstock agents commission, vetting, transport and training fees until the date mentioned in monthly prices):

20*% – €1860 – upfront fee – €480 per month from 1st September 2020

20*% – £1677 – upfront fee -£440 per month from 1st September 2020

10% – €930 – upfront fee – €240 per month from 1st September 2020

10% – £840 – upfront fee – £220 per month from 1st September 2020

5% – €465 – upfront fee – €130 per month from 1st September 2020

5% – £420 – upfront fee – £115 per month from 1st September 2020

2.5% – €233 – upfront fee – €70 per month from 1st September 2020

2.5% – £210 – upfront fee – £60 per month from 1st September 2020

*Any 20%+ shareholder with have the option to have name included on the racecard.