2023 Eclipse Awards: Hard to Justify

Hard to Justify’s credentials easily justify her spot among the three finalists for the Eclipse Award as outstanding 2-year-old filly. Her 3-for-3 campaign, highlighted by a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, made her one of the top picks among voters.

Hard to Justify, a daughter of Triple Crown winner Justify – also the sire of fellow Breeders’ Cup winner and divisional finalist Just F Y I – was bred in Kentucky by Yeguada Centurion S.L. She was purchased by Wise Racing for $190,000 out of the 2022 Keeneland September yearling sale – a relative bargain as she has already earned $687,750 for that stable in her first season of racing.

Owner Brian Wise was quick to share credit for scouting out the star.

:: Full list of 2023 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

“You know, it’s really all about having the best team in the business,” Wise said at the Breeders’ Cup. “When I say that, it’s that [trainer] Chad Brown and [bloodstock agent] Mike Ryan and [agent and young-horse trainer] Niall Brennan were walking together looking last fall for horses at the Keeneland sale. They spotted this horse that wasn’t even on their radar at first and said, ‘Hey, there’s something about her.’ Then she went down to Niall in Florida.

“She just started training and never did anything wrong. It’s luck, but it’s luck that you get when you work with the best people in the world.”

Hard to Justify debuted July 23 at Saratoga and turned heads by overcoming a troubled trip. Going 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf course, the filly was steadied at the seven-sixteenths pole, leaving her eighth on the far turn. She relied on her courage to win by a head under Flavien Prat, who was aboard in all three of her starts.

Hard to Justify got a cleaner trip but showed the same grit in her next start, the Grade 2 Miss Grillo Stakes on Oct. 4 at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet. The filly raced in second to have dead aim, forged her way to the lead in the stretch, and held sway to the wire to win by a half-length.

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The waters got deeper in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita, where Hard to Justify drew post 12 in the field of 14. She pressed an honest pace in second, and, as horses began to stack up outside of her entering the stretch, had to work to wear down pacesetting Dreamfyre, who didn’t fold until the late stages. Hard to Justify then held off European Group 1 winner Porta Fortuna by a half-length.

“She has a great heart,” Wise said.

Hard to Justify added her name to a distinguished list of winners of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, which has been a steady predictor of future talent since it was added to the Breeders’ Cup program in 2008. A number of winners have gone on to additional Grade 1 success, including eventual Eclipse Award champion turf females Lady Eli and Rushing Fall, and Stephanie’s Kitten, who later added a win in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

But before looking to the future, Hard to Justify’s connections can celebrate her current success.

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