Owners: Triple Crown winner Justify will race again

NEW YORK » Triple Crown winner Justify will get a welldeserved break and then race again this year, although no date or location has been targeted yet after the colt came out of his Belmont Stakes victory in good condition.

Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm said Sunday the multi-owner group that controls Justify wants to share the horse with the public by racing him. A plan will be formulated once the chestnut colt recovers from a compressed schedule that saw him win six races over 111 days since his debut on Feb. 18.

“Our focus was on each race as they came up,” Walden said after unveiling Justify’s Triple Crown banner inside Belmont Park. “Now we can take a deep breath and just see how the horse is.”

Justify is set to return to Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday.

Next Saturday, Justify’s owners along with trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Mike Smith will receive their engraved Kentucky Derby trophies at Churchill. It’s possible Justify could be paraded at the track like American Pharoah after he won the Triple Crown for Baffert in 2015.

“Today he looked fantastic,” Baffert said. “After a week, it starts catching up with them.”

On June 17, Justify will travel to Baffert’s base in Southern California to await his next move.

Among the possibilities: the $1 million Haskell Invitational on July 29 at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park, the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 18 and the $1.25 million Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 25.

Baffert can expect to hear from officials at several tracks eager to lure racing’s newest superstar, much like he did with American Pharaoh.

Chris Kay, president of the New York Racing Association, joked that he would “hold Bode hostage until they make the decision,” referring to Baffert’s 13-year-old son.

“We hope this entire group will be assembled again in late August in Saratoga,” Kay said.

Baffert took American Pharoah to Saratoga in August 2015 and the Triple Crown winner was upset by Keen Ice in the Travers.

“Everybody thinks I’m so opposed to Saratoga,” he said. “I’m not. I’ve had really good luck there.”

The season-ending Breeders’ Cup world championships are in Louisville on Nov. 2-3.

“It’s been the longest, quickest journey,” a hoarse-sounding Baffert said as light rain fell outside Justify’s barn. “We were in the office watching the replay over and over. He’s just an unbelievable horse. We’re just so proud of him. We thought he was that kind of horse but they have to prove it.”