Justify (KY)

Biography

It all happened in a whirlwind 111 days. Bob Baffert knew he had something special in Justify when he began training the talented chestnut son of Scat Daddy, but he never imagined the incredible, albeit brief, journey the colt would take him on.

“To go from unraced maiden in mid-February to the pinnacle of winning the Triple Crown in early June, through that gauntlet of a process, it tells you how truly remarkable Justify was,” Baffert said. “I certainly had high hopes for what he could become. To say he exceeded those would be an understatement. He was an absolutely special racehorse and I’m lucky and proud to have been his trainer.”

Bred in Kentucky by John D. Gunther, Justify was a $500,000 purchase at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. His ownership included WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, and Starlight Racing. Out of the Ghostzapper mare Stage Magic (who was bred and owned by Gunther), Justify made his career debut on Feb. 18, 2018, at Santa Anita. With Drayden Van Dyke in the irons, Justify immediately served notice he would be a force to be reckoned with by cruising to a 9½-length victory at seven furlongs.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith took over in the saddle for Justify’s next start, a 6½-length score at Santa Anita in an optional claimer on March 11. The hype reached a fever pitch when Justify crossed the finish line three lengths ahead of Bolt d’Oro in the Santa Anita Derby on April 7. With just three starts under his belt in a 48-day span, Justify had punched his ticket to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.

When he entered the starting gate for the Derby on May 5, Justify was attempting to break the “Curse of Apollo.” No horse had won the Run for the Roses without having raced as a 2-year-old since the curse’s namesake in 1882. Although inexperienced, Justify looked like a seasoned competitor at Churchill, turning back reigning 2-year-old champion Good Magic to win the Derby by 2½ lengths. Over a sloppy and sealed surface, Justify went the 1¼ miles in 2:04.20.

Two weeks later, Justify emerged from the foggy conditions at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore to hold off a determined Bravazo in the stretch to win the Preakness Stakes. At the wire, Justify was a half-length better than Bravazo, covering the 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.93. Tenfold finished a neck behind Bravazo in third, who was a neck better than Good Magic.

“That was a nail-biter,” Baffert said of the Preakness. “They put it to us. Somebody had to give, and I’m glad it wasn’t us. ... He had to really work for it.”

Following the Derby, Baffert began mentioning Justify in the same breath as his 2015 Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah. In the 150^th Belmont Stakes, Justify had the opportunity to make his own Triple Crown history — and he was up for the task.

“I don’t have to really compare (Justify and American Pharoah) because if they make it on that wall (of Triple Crown winners), that’s all you need to say.”

Justify silenced any remaining doubters in his Belmont coronation. Breaking cleanly from the rail, Justify set an honest pace of :23.37 for the first quarter. His stablemate, Restoring Hope, traveled wide around the first turn in second, and Bravazo was third. Smith slowed the pace a bit with a half-mile in :48.11. When Justify reached the final turn after a mile in 1:38.09, the Todd Pletcher-trained Vino Rosso was just a half-length behind. Vino Rosso, however, was in an all-out drive to hang with Justify. Smith, meanwhile, was sitting chilly and hadn’t yet called on his mount.

“I just wanted to wait as long as I could before I really put the pedal to the metal,” Smith said. “He dug back in, and I felt at that point he would hold off anybody that was coming.”

As Justify entered the top of the stretch, longshot Gronkowski began to threaten. In his first start in America and first attempt on the dirt, Gronkowski, at odds of 25-1, was looming. Justify, however, had plenty in the tank to repel the son of Lonhro. He hit the wire in the 1½-mile test in 2:28.18, clear of Gronkowski by 1¾ lengths. America had its 13^th Triple Crown winner.   

“You can’t doubt Justify now,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, whose colt Hofburg finished third in the Belmont. “There’s no way. You’ve got to give him credit.”

Baffert was overcome with emotion following the race. Justify gave the trainer his second sweep of the Triple Crown series in four years. With the win, Baffert joined James “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons as the only trainers to saddle two Triple Crown winners.  

“I’ve been through it and … if he was great, he was going to do it. And that’s what it’s about,” Baffert said of Justify. “To me, I wanted to see that horse, his name up there with the greats. If they’re great, they’re going to win the Triple Crown. It takes a great horse to win the Triple Crown.”

Elliott Walden, the president of WinStar Farm, was also in awe of Justify’s rare achievement.

“To have the opportunity to be here and to make history like this is an incredible feeling,” Walden said. “These horses just … you buy them or whatever, but a horse like this just kind of happens. You can’t find these horses. They find you.”

Justify was under consideration to compete after the Triple Crown, but the decision was made to retire the colt after Baffert discovered some swelling in one of his ankles a few weeks after the Belmont.

“He is just not responding quick enough for a fall campaign,” Baffert said at the time. “We all wanted to see Justify run again, but ultimately it is my responsibility to make sure he is perfect. Without 60-90 days, I can’t be definite.”

Justify was retired to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky, where he joined fellow Triple Crown winner American Pharoah on the stallion roster. With the Triple Crown and five triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures to his credit, Justify was an easy choice for the 2018 Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and Champion 3-Year-old Male. 

“Justify was a comet on the racetrack,” Baffert said after the horse was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. “He came, he saw, he conquered, he retired to stud. A flash of brilliant light across the horizon. Nothing left to prove. He ended the Curse of Apollo and won the Triple Crown in the most spectacular and breathtaking five months any thoroughbred has ever had. We were lucky to be a part of it and will be forever grateful.”