Run Julie Run set to make first classic a procession

RUN JULIE RUN’s Portmore performance, a gate-to-wire annihilation of her peers almost a month ago, puts the Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes runner-up in a class by herself ahead of Saturday’s 1000 Guineas.

Clocking 1:33.2 for seven and a half furlongs in the Portmore, RUN JULIE RUN was only a fifth of a second slower than INTERESTNTIMESAHEAD’s 1:33.1 a day later in the Kingston, franking the Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes finish in which the colt had beaten her by two and a half lengths on December 26.

Therefore, had RUN JULIE RUN lined up among the colts in the Kingston, as fillies are allowed in the United Kingdom, she would have finished a clear second against colts and geldings, giving INTERESTNTIMESAHEAD a run for his money with her sex allowance as a dangerous weapon to boot.

Comparing splits for both races, INTERESTNTIMESAHEAD wasted no time in getting rid of stablemate UNRULY DON on the lead in a scorching 23.3 before going by in 34.4, turning the event into a procession by increasing into 46.3, 59.4, 1:11.4 and seven furlongs in 1:25.4 for a three and a half length win in 1:33.1.

Similarly, RUN JULIE RUN got off to a flyer, making all in 23.2, 34.4, 46.3, 59.4, 1:12.0, 1:25.4, cruising in by nine lengths to stop the clock in 1:33.2.

What appears to have made the difference in April’s Thornbird Stakes in which RUN JULIE RUN finished third behind BANADURA and COMEHOMETOME, seemingly outsped, was the difference in the going, and, most important, her draw.

Breaking from post-position four in the six-furlong Thornbird Stakes, RUN JULIE RUN appeared reluctant to pick up the bit, seemingly shying from sand being kicked at her from a visibly dryish surface.

After hanging right in the stretch run, RUN JULIE RUN was noted charging at the leaders inside the final half-furlong after being switched to mid-track by Omar Walker. Reyan Lewis, in his post-Portmore interview, somewhat spoke to her actions in the Thornbird, saying he had watched replays and realised what was happening with Omar Walker aboard.

For the Portmore, RUN JULIE RUN got a wide draw, stall 10, broke sharply on a not-so-dry track and turned the Guineas prep into a procession, making fools of who had abandoned her after the Thornbird.

Slotted in at post seven for the Guineas with Lewis figuring her quirks, it should be a matter of how far RUN JULIE RUN wins the season’s first classic.