Justin Palace

Justin Palace (ジャスティンパレス; foaled April 12, 2019) is a retired Japanese racehorse.^[1]

Justin Palace was foaled at Northern Farm on April 12, 2019. His sire, Deep Impact, was the undefeated winner of the Japanese Triple Crown in 2005 and JRA Hall of Fame inductee who was also a highly successful sire; having sired two JRA Hall of Fame inductees, Gentildonna and Contrail, among many other Grade I winners both in Japan and abroad. His dam, Palace Rumour, was an American racehorse who won the 2006 Audubon Oaks, and had become a successful broodmare who foaled the 2013 Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice and the 2023 Stayers Stakes winner Iron Barows.^[4][5]

The horse's name is based on the "Justin" kanmei (冠名) eponym used by his owner, Masahiro Miki, and the name of the horse's dam. Miki had bought the horse at the Yearling Session of JRHA Select Sale for 2009 million yen (including consumption tax).^[6] After the purchase, he was sent to early training at Takayuki Ito's stable in the Northern Farm before being transferred to Haruki Sugiyama's stable in Rittō, Shiga.^[7]

Justin Palace ran his first race at a debut race for two year olds at Chukyo Racecourse over a distance of 2000 meters with Christophe Lemaire as his jockey. Being the most favored to win, he would win this race by a length and a half.^[8] He would then go on to also win the Kigiku Sho, where he would overtake Meisho Gekirin, who was the front runner of the race.^[9]

Following his consecutive wins, Justin Palace would run his first graded race, the Hopeful Stakes, where the horse had, despite stumbling at the start, was able to place himself in the pack, and while he tried to contest the lead, he was still unable to catch the winner, Killer Ability, who won the race with a length and a half lead against him.^[10]

Justin Palace started his three-year-old season with the first leg of the Japanese Triple Crown, the Satsuki Shō, where he finished at 9th place.^[11] He would then run the Tōkyō Yūshun, the second leg of the Japanese Triple Crown, where he once again finished at 9th place.^[12]

After spending the summer off, he would enter the Kobe Shimbun Hai with Katsuma Sameshima as his new jockey. In that race, he would take over the lead on the final stretch after running the middle of the pack, marking his first grade race win by a 3 and a half lengths lead.^[13] Later, at the Kikuka-shō, the final leg of the Japanese Triple Crown, he would finish third behind Ask Victor More in spite of his starting post being on the outside of the course.^[14]

Justin Palace would finish the season with the Arima Kinen, where he finished seventh behind Equinox.^[15]

Justin Palace started his four-year-old season with the Hanshin Daishōten, which is a trial race for the Spring Tennō Shō. During the race, he ran third for most of the race before taking the lead on the home stretch, staving off Boldog Hos' attempt to take over, before winning the race by a length and three-quarters.^{[7][16][17][18][19]}

At the Spring Tennō Shō, Justin Palace would run in the middle of the pack, saving his pace, before surpassing the other horses on the home stretch, including Deep Bond who had initially taken the lead, and winning the race by a two and a half length lead. This was Justin Palace's first Grade I victory after six starts; and marked the 71st JRA Grade I wins for any Deep Impact progenies, tying to that of Sunday Silence's record of the most JRA Grade I races won by progenies, and also marked the 44th JRA Grade I race win for jockey Lemaire and the 5th Grade I race win for trainer Sugiyama.^{[20][21][22][23][24]}

Following this win, Justin Palace would then enter the Takarazuka Kinen, with Sameshima returning as jockey. In the race, he would race from behind before starting to advance before the fourth corner. Sameshima would accidentally drop his riding crop while attempting to take the lead in the final stretch, but was ultimately passed by Equinox and finished third.^[25][26]

After taking the summer off, Justin Palace would race the Autumn Tennō Shō, with Takeshi Yokoyama as his new jockey. He had a poor start, and had to run in the back of the pack, but as the race ran at a high pace with front runner Jack d'Or running at a high speed, this ended up benefitting him. On the final stretch, he would chase Equinox who had taken the lead but was unable to, finishing second with a two and a half length gap between the two horses.^[27] He would then go on to once again race in the Arima. At the Arima, where he was the most favored to win, the horse did not start well and ran in the back of the pack. In spite of this, the horse tried to take the lead from the outside on the home stretch alongside Do Deuce, but was unable to keep up with him and ultimately finished fourth.^[28]

Justin Palace started the season off with his first race abroad, the Dubai Sheema Classic, with João Moreira as his new jockey. However, he was not successful and finished at fourth in that race.^[29]

After racing in Dubai, Justin Palace returned to Japan to once again race in the Takarazuka Kinen, with Lemaire returning as jockey for the first time since the Spring Tennō Shō, but finished at an unimpressive 10th place. After the race, Lemaire blamed the poor track condition, stating "given he is a Deep (progeny), perhaps he does not do well in soft tracks. He was not pushing forward on the stretch after all."^[30]

Justin Palace would then race in the Autumn Tennō Shō again, this time with Ryusei Sakai as his new jockey.^[31] During the race, the horse ran in the middle of the pack and saved his pace. On the home stretch, Sakai chose to run the horse closer to the wire as it seemed that the horse had no room to overtake from the outside. While the horse was able to push forward, he still was not able to win, having finished fourth behind front runner Ho O Biscuits, who finished third in the race.^[32] As a result of him cutting to the inside, the stewards fined Sakai 50,000 JPY for cutting off Stella Veloce and North Bridge.^[32] He would then race the Japan Cup with Cristian Demuro as his jockey, but could only manage to finish fifth.^[33] Finally, he would finish the season off with the Arima Kinen, where he ran in the middle of the pack for most of the race, but was unable to contest the lead and once again finished fifth.^[34]

Justin Palace raced the Ōsaka Hai and the Spring Tennō Shō but finished at sixth place each time.^[35][36] Later, at the Takarazuka Kinen, Justin Palace was partnered with Michael Dee, where despite being only the tenth most favored, the horse managed to finish at third place.^[37] Justin Palace would also finish third in the Autumn Tennō Shō as well.^[38]

Prior to racing the Autumn Tennō Shō, Sugiyama announced that the horse would be retired from racing at the end of the year, where he would stand stud at the Arrow Stud in Shinhidaka, Hokkaido.^[39]

He would then enter the Japan Cup, where he would attempt to contest the lead from the outside, but once again finished fifth.^[40] Afterwards, at the Arima Kinen, the horse finished 7th behind Museum Mile after running from the rear of the pack and trying to take over the lead.^[41]

His registration as a race horse with the Japan Racing Association was withdrawn on January 4, 2026.^[42]

The following racing form is based on information available on JBIS-Search and netkeiba.^[43][44]