What's next for Justice Hall?

Justice Hall’s seventh-place finish in last Sunday’s Oslo Grand Prix may have damaged his chances of racing in the Elitlopp, but the 5-year-old son of Garland Lobell could still be racing at Solvalla Racetrack in Stockholm, Sweden, on the last weekend in May.

Kevin Thomas, who trains and co-owns Justice Hall with Mary Katz, Nathan Fink and the Berto Stable, returned to Lexington from Norway Monday evening. In recapping the race he told harnessracing.com that, “It was just kind of one of those (bad) days you have now and then.”

Thomas said the large crowd at the Bjerke track in Oslo got Justice Hall excited during warm-ups.
“They were everywhere, screaming and hollering, plus the infield was full of stuff,” Thomas said. “He’d never quite been through anything like that. He was tough warming up.”

Driver Andrea Guzzinatti took back at the start but ran into road trouble when he tried to make his move coming around the last turn. “They had a real slow first 1,000 meters,” Thomas explained. “And when the horses finally did come, we had a horse run in front of us and we were pushed real wide in the last turn.”

Elitlopp race officials still have invitations to hand out, and a race tomorrow (Wednesday) at Solvalla could determine who else will be invited. If Justice Hall is not invited to the Elitlopp, he could race in the Sweden Cup, which will be raced at Solvalla Saturday, May 27, the day before the Elitlopp. “That (invitation) has been there all along,” Thomas added. The Sweden Cup has $13,000 eliminations and a $70,000 final.

Thomas said he should know in the next couple of days which race Justice Hall will be in.

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