Justify passes sloppy Pimlico test

come here with the Kentucky Derby winner.

And now, after a return to Kentucky for a bit of rest and to resume training, Justify should be on to the Belmont, if he comes away healthy.

“He was blowing today,” Baffert said. “He was in a fight. We’ll just get him back to Kentucky and see how he does. But I don’t see why not.”

The dense fog gave the post-race celebration a surreal feeling. Jockey Mike Smith pumped his fists and looked at the sky. He was surrounded by a cloud-like mist as they draped the garland of Black-Eyed-Susans over him.

Elliott Walden, president and CEO of racing operations for co-owner WinStar Farms, was like every other coowner, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on.

“It seemed like an eternity, but when they went into the fog, I was like, where are they, where are they?” he said. “Just the anticipation of them coming out, and you knew when they went in that he was in front, so you were hoping to see those white stilts coming out.”

To bring it home, Smith had to edge a bid from Bravazo, trained by the Triple Crown’s other most dominant active trainer, Lukas. Lukas liked what he saw.

“I want them to extend it another 50 yards,” Lukas said. “He was running on in the end. [Jockey] Luis Saez did a good job. A very good horse won the race, a very good horse. We ran at him. We kept him honest just like we said we would. Bob’s tough in these and if he gets the right horse, he’s really tough.”

Justify won by a half length over Bravazo, who was a neck in front of Tenfold. After his early matchrace, Good Magic finished fourth.

It was the fifth win in five starts for Justify, who has won three of those on off tracks, including both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Justify paid $2.80 to win as a 1-5 favorite. Justify covered the 1-3/16 miles on a sloppy, track in 1:55.93.

“Good Magic, he really put it to us. It was almost like the Sunday Silence, Easy Goer type. They didn’t give it away. He was going to make us earn it, and I wasn’t liking it down the backside.”

But he was loving it at the finish. Baffert is always looking for signs, omens of victory. He liked having the No. 7 post, after having the No. 7 post in Louisville.

Baffert has one triple. Will he be able to get another?

“What we’re going to do is like we did for this race,” Baffert said. “He has to show us, he has to come out of the race well, and he’s got to be training really well. I did the same thing with American Pharoah, all my horses that ran the Triple Crown, they have to be 100 percent. And so we’ll just — he’ll dictate.”