DERBY DRAW

Trainer pleased with his spot

LOUISVILLE, KY.» Bob Baffert had no chance to fret over the Kentucky Derby draw.

By the time the Hall of Fame trainer managed to get into Churchill Downs, the process was halfway done and Justify had landed in the No. 7 post on Tuesday.

“We didn’t want the 1-hole, that’s for sure,” the four-time Derby winner said. “I was relieved when I saw him in seven.”

Justify was made the early 3-1 favorite for the Derby, with Europe-based Mendelssohn the second choice in a full field of 20 horses.

Six horses have won from the No. 7 post, most recently Street Sense in 2007.

“The only reason I’m the favorite is because I beat Bolt d’Oro and he was the horse to beat,” said Baffert, referring to Justify’s three-length win over his rival in the Santa Anita Derby last month.

Justify is one of two horses in Saturday’s 1¼-mile race who didn’t race at age 2. The other is 6-1 third choice Magnum Moon. No horse since Apollo in 1882 has won the Derby after not racing as a 2-year-old.

“I don’t buy into the Apollo Curse or whatever at all, mainly because Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher have got the horses,” four-time Derby-winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas said. “Todd’s going to have his (horse) ready, and Baffert is going to have his.”

Justify is 3-0 in his brief career, winning by a combined 19 lengths. Magnum Moon is 4-0, winning the Arkansas Derby and Rebel Stakes in his last two starts.

“It’s one of the toughest Derbies I’ve ever seen,” Baffert said. “All the important horses got good draws.”

If all 20 horses start, the total purse would be $2,192,000. The winner earns $1,432,000.

Post time is 4:46 p.m. Mountain.