Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
‘Curse of Apollo’ finally put to rest
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The eagle has landed. The moon shot of trying to win the Kentucky Derby with a horse who never raced at 2, which hadn’t been done since Apollo in 1882, finally ended on a rainy, dreary day at Churchill Downs that was in contrast to the ray of sunshine on the racetrack.
Justify, in a brilliant performance for any horse, let alone a 3-year-old colt who had a mere three starts to his name, set a wicked pace, disposed of an early challenger, then more serious bids from Bolt d’Oro and then the champion colt Good Magic, and prevailed in the 144th Derby, giving trainer Bob Baffert his fifth Derby, second best alltime.
“He ranks right up there with my top ones,” said Baffert, who in a recent interview repeatedly referred to Justify as a “superior racehorse,” words he uttered for his top-class colts American Pharoah, the 2015 Triple Crown winner, and Arrogate far deeper into their careers. “It took a great horse to do what he did today.”
What Justify did was fly out of the gate under jockey Mike Smith and take up residence just outside Promises Fulfilled through a torrid opening quarter in 22.24 seconds and opening half in 45.77. The pace was enervating for Promises Fulfilled, who began to weaken nearing the far turn after six furlongs in 1:11.01, and – underscoring how well Justify ran – faded to 15th.
Bolt d’Oro, who had been sitting just behind the top two, made a mild run at Justify going around the far turn, but he too couldn’t keep up with the demanding pace and dropped away before the quarter pole. Next came Good Magic, who ranged up outside Justify at the top of the stretch and loomed a threat, but he, too, could not get to Justify, and by the furlong pole, Justify had a 2 1/2-length lead that he maintained all the way to the wire.
Good Magic held on for second, a head in front of Audible, who encountered traffic trouble down the backstretch and more just before the quarter pole before rallying up the rail for third. Instilled Regard was fourth, then came, in order, My Boy Jack, Bravazo, Hofburg, Lone Sailor, Vino Rosso, Solomini, Firenze Fire, Bolt d’Oro, Flameaway, Enticed, Promises Fulfilled, Free Drop Billy, Noble Indy, Combatant, Magnum Moon, and Mendelssohn.
The early pace and a track rendered sloppy by day-long rain resulted in a race that was fast early, slow late, with Justify completing 1 1/4 miles in 2:04.20. He was given a Beyer Speed Figure of 103. The victory was significant on many levels. Justify ($7.80) became the sixth straight favorite to win the Derby since Churchill Downs switched to a points system to determine the starting field. He also became the ninth horse to win the Derby while still unbeaten.
Baffert, with his fifth win, now trails only the late Ben Jones, who won the Derby six times, among trainers.
For Smith, it was his second Derby victory, having won previously with the longshot Giacomo in 2005. Smith, 52, also became the second-oldest jockey to win the Derby, behind Bill Shoemaker, who was 54 when he won in 1986.
Justify is owned by a partnership that includes Sol Kumin, who is a co-owner of Monomoy Girl, winner of the Kentucky Oaks. Kumin became the first owner to win the Derby and Oaks in the same year since 1952.
Another co-owner, the WinStar Farm of Kenny Troutt, was winning the Derby for the second time, following Super Saver in 2010.
And a third co-owner, Starlight Racing, is managed by Jack Wolf, a resident of Louisville who became the first local since 1914 to own a Derby winner.
Derby Day dawned cloudy, but then a recordsetting rain moved in and wouldn’t leave, like a bad houseguest. More than 2 1/2 inches fell from midnight until post time for the Derby, eclipsing the previous Derby Day record of 2.31 inches set exactly 100 years ago. The day-long rain forced many of the crowd of 157,813 – the eighth-largest in Derby history – to take shelter inside. The rain, which resulted in flash-flood warnings in the area, also turned the track to slop, marking the fifth time in the last 10 years that the Derby was run on an off track.
But neither the crowded stands, crowded paddock, nor crowded 20-horse starting gate
rattled Justify. Showing maturity beyond his three races, he saddled without incident and was well behaved in the post parade.
A major key to Justify’s success, Baffert and Smith knew, was in the start, and Smith was aggressive leaving the gate from post 7, allowing him to take up an ideal position just outside of Promises Fulfilled. There was much trouble farther out leaving the gate, where Magnum Moon, from post 16, veered in sharply, bothering Instilled Regard and, far more significantly, Mendelssohn, who was clobbered a few strides out of the gate and found himself in an untenable position from which he never recovered.
“When he got away clean, I thought he had a chance,” Baffert said. But as the fractions unfolded on the television on which Baffert watched the race, “I thought he was going to lay down.”
After turning away several challengers, though, the last being Good Magic, it was obvious Justify was home.
“The last eighth, when I knew he was going to win, I was in awe,” Baffert said. “That’s the best Kentucky Derby-winning performance of a horse I’ve had.”
Justify, by the late sire Scat Daddy, was purchased as yearling for $500,000 by Elliott Walden, the chief executive of WinStar. Over time, the partnership grew to include Kumin’s Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, and the China Horse Club headed by Teo Ah Khing.
Walden manages the horse for the partnership and decided to send the colt to Baffert.
“We knew we had something really special,” Baffert said after the race. “But he had to prove it today.
“It’s like having LeBron,” he said, referring to basketball star LeBron James. “You better win a championship.”
Baffert first realized he had something special in Justify when he arrived at his barn at Santa Anita and had his first workout. On the morning of his first start, Feb. 18, Baffert said, “I’ve got big plans for that colt this afternoon.”
Justify won that day, next took an allowance race, then captured the Santa Anita Derby. In the space of just 48 days, he went from an unstarted maiden to the winner of the West’s major prep for the Kentucky Derby.
And then four weeks later, not even three months after his first race, the moon shot Baffert mapped out with Justify touched down perfectly in the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs. After all the nervousness and fretting, the Apollo mission was complete. Justify was at Tranquility Base.