Justifying his spot in history

Bob Baffert-trained Justify becomes 13th Triple Crown winner

Justify defied all the odds on his way to achieving Triple Crown immortality.

The late bloomer won the Belmont Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths on Saturday, giving the sport its 13th Triple Crown champion. American Pharoah ended a 37year drought in 2015 and now four years later, racing is celebrating another sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont.

Justify began his racing career on Feb. 18, a scant 77 days before the Derby. He won his first three races by a combined 19 lengths, making trainer Bob Baffert a believer.

The big chestnut colt with the appetite to match burst onto the national scene with a 2 1/2-length victory on a sloppy track in the Derby. Two weeks later, he survived a challenge in the fog-shrouded Preakness, winning by a half-length, again in the slop to set up a Triple Crown try.

On a cloudy 26 C day at Belmont Park, Justify proved a cool customer.

He didn’t flinch when greeted by 90,327 roaring fans as he walked onto the track. He stood so quietly in the starting gate that jockey Mike Smith wondered if he’d respond when it sprang open.

Did he ever.

Justify led all the way in achieving one of the sports world’s toughest feats 45 years to the day that Secretariat won the Belmont by a record 31 lengths.

Justify accomplished a lot in a very short time.

At 6-0, he joins Seattle Slew in 1977 as the only two undefeated Triple Crown winners; he’s the first to sweep the series without racing at age two (because of a pulled muscle); and he’s the only horse to beat nine rivals in the Belmont with a triple try on the line.