Ashford Stud is celebrating Justify ‘s banner year in 2023 as North America’s leading second-crop sire and leading sire of 2-year-olds by giving breeders who support other stallions on its roster an opportunity to win a free no-guarantee 2024 nomination to the 2018 American Triple Crown winner.
Breeders who have booked mares to Corniche , Epicenter , Jack Christopher , or Tiz the Law will be eligible to participate in the drawings that will be held April 26. Four separate drawings will be held among the breeders who have contracts with each of the four stallions.
“Justify has enjoyed a sensational year,” said Coolmore’s Charlie O’Connor. “He’s the first sire in North America since Mr. Prospector to sire four grade 1-winning juveniles in a single season. His two Breeders’ Cup winners are among the three finalists for champion 2-year-old filly at the upcoming Eclipse Awards, City of Troy and Opera Singer have been crowned European champion 2-year-old colt and European champion 2-year-old filly, respectively, while Ramatuelle was crowned French champion 2-year-old.
“And if all that’s not enough, he was also champion first-crop sire in Australia. We think THE JUSTIFY 4 concept is a novel idea which is sure to catch the imagination of breeders given four seasons to this great stallion are up for grabs,” he said.
Justify’s Eclipse finalists are Just F Y I and Hard to Justify , who both ran undefeated last year. Just F Y I ended her juvenile campaign by winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), while Hard to Justify captured the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T).
In addition to leading the second-crop sire class with progeny earnings of $9,749,508, Justify also was the leader by number of black-type stakes winners with 15, number of graded/group stakes winners with 10, and by number of grade/group 1 winners with six.
The terms and conditions for the nominations are as follows:
- For each qualifying mare contracted to any of the four stallions by April 26, 2024, a ticket will be entered with no limit on the number of tickets per client.
- One ticket will be drawn for each of the four stallions with the prize being a no-guarantee 2024 season to Justify in each case.
- The mare nominated must be approved and fit for breeding purposes. Mares over 17 or barren for the last two years are excluded.
- The qualifying mare must be bred before the nominated mare can be bred by Justify.
- All Coolmore employees and related parties are ineligible for these draws as are any of the partners in the participating stallions. In the event of a dispute, Coolmore is the final arbitrator.
To participate in the drawings and get a full explanation of the details, breeders are encouraged to contact a member of the stallion nominations teams at Coolmore or Ashford Stud.
