Justify keen and eager in tune-up for Belmont
Colt aims to become 13th Triple Crown champ
NEW YORK — Triple Crown contender Justify glided over the track in his first trip over the Belmont Park strip on Thursday morning.
The strapping chestnut colt is the odds-on favourite to complete the series sweep on Saturday in the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes following victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
Justify arrived here Wednesday afternoon after a flight from Kentucky. Bob Baffert, his Hall of Fame trainer, was delighted with how well the horse handled the shipping and the unfamiliar surroundings.
“He looked like he was getting over it really well,” Baffert said after the gallop. “It looked like he was happy. He was a little aggressive, a little fresh. He couldn’t have looked any better.”
Justify went 1-3/8 miles, keen and eager as he flashed by the grandstand.
Baffert said he omitted the customary ear plugs, which might have put Justify slightly on edge. The plugs will be back in for a final gallop on Friday. Justify uses them only for training, not racing.
Baffert has decided against schooling Justify in the paddock or the starting gate.
“Everywhere he’s gone, it’s like he’s been there before,” Baffert said. “He’s a very intelligent horse.”
The Belmont is the longest of the Triple Crown races at 1-1/2 miles over a demanding surface known as “Big Sandy.”
That shouldn’t be a problem for Justify, Baffert said.
“We’ve been training over a deep and tiring track in California,” he said. “My horses, when they come here, just float over this.”
With a Belmont victory, Justify would be the 13th Triple Crown winner, and the second conditioned by Baffert. He took the Crown with American Pharoah in 2015.
Mike Smith, who rides Justify on Saturday, watched exercise rider Humberto Gomez aboard his horse.
“He looks really good,” Smith said.
He was a little aggressive, a little fresh. He couldn’t have looked any better.” Trainer Bob Baffert