Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Triple Crowning achievement
screaming.”
Smith said Justify left the gate “like he was going 440 yards at Ruidoso.”
“He broke better today than the other two,” Smith said, referring to the Derby and Preakness, “which was very important. Then he got into that rhythm of his. I kept a leg on each side and my mind in the middle.”
Justify went fast for the opening quarter, 23.37 seconds, but then Smith got him to go in a more sensible manner for the next half-mile, and they reached six furlongs in 1:13.21.
Baffert’s other runner, the longshot Restoring Hope, had been in closest attendance early while being kept wide, with Bravazo also forwardly placed. As the field went around the far turn, Justify inched away from his rivals, and then they came closer. Smith was playing with them, and Justify was a willing partner. “He listens to you,” Smith said. Justify passed the mile mark in 1:38.09, then threw another 24-second-and-change quarter at his rivals to reach the quarter pole in 2:02.90. Restoring Hope and Bravazo were done.
Justify entered the lane with a twolength lead, with Vino Rosso closest but beginning to weaken after gaining ground on the far turn. It was the Euro-
pean import Gronkowski who then loomed the biggest threat. Last early, Gronkowski closed sharply on the far turn while saving ground under Jose Ortiz, then switched out in upper stretch to try to run down Justify.
“Man, he dug back in,” Smith said of Justify.
There was no catching him. Justify maintained a safe margin to the wire and crossed the finish 1 3/4 lengths in front of Gronkowski, who was 1 3/4 lengths in front of third-place Hofburg. Vino Rosso was fourth and was followed by Tenfold, Bravazo, Free Drop Billy, Restoring Hope, Blended Citizen, and Noble Indy.
Justify completed the 1 1/2 miles on the fast main track in 2:28.18. His Beyer Speed Figure for the race is 101.
Smith understood the magnitude of the moment. He brought Justify back toward the winner’s circle but then took him up the stretch, past the furlong pole – much as Victor Espinoza had done with American Pharoah in 2015 – for a curtain call so the fans could show their appreciation.
They knew they had witnessed something special. No horse has ever been on such an accelerated schedule to win the Triple Crown. But Justify – a big, strong colt – had the physical build and mental fortitude to handle it all.
“He’s never had a break, like a Quarter Horse running every week, trials and finals,” said Baffert, who long ago began his training career with Quarter Horses.
Justify, a colt by the late Scat Daddy, races for a partnership that includes the WinStar Farm of Kenny Troutt, China Horse Club, Starlight Racing, and Head of Plains Partners. It was WinStar president and chief executive Elliott Walden who decided last fall to send Justify to Baffert.
Baffert knew what he had early on and never saw anything to make him change his mind. After his third start, he started calling Justify a “superior horse,” a phrase he had used for American Pharoah and Arrogate – another recent star – further into their careers.
The morning after the Preakness, Baffert took a reporter into Justify’s stall to admire the colt’s physical presence and then remarked, “You’ll never see another horse like this.”
And then the day before the Belmont, Baffert said: “This is the best he’s been. If he’s great, he’ll win the Triple Crown.”
“He’s just a magnificent animal,” Baffert said Saturday.
In less than four months, all that has proven to be justified.