Justify wins second leg of Triple Crown

Jockey Mike Smith and Justify won Saturday’s Preakness Stakes in the fog and rain.
Jockey Mike Smith and Justify won Saturday’s Preakness Stakes in the fog and rain.

BALTIMORE -- Justify rounded the final turn and hit the top of the stretch winded but with the lead.

The roar from the crowd was delayed, hushed by the thick fog that enveloped the track. When Justify emerged from the haze in view of the grandstand, trainer Bob Baffert could see jockey Mike Smith's white silks and knew his horse had been pushed to his limit with 100 yards left to go.

"I knew he was in for a fight," Baffert said. "I knew this was not going to be easy."

It wasn't easy, but Justify had enough left to hold off several hard-charging challengers and win the Preakness on a sloppy, slippery track Saturday and keep alive the chance for a second Triple Crown champion in four years.

After winning the most difficult race of his career, Justify has the chance at the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 9 to accomplish the same rare feat Baffert's American Pharoah did in 2015.

"We'll see how he trains," Baffert said. "Right now, I don't see why not."

Just getting through the Preakness was a test for the Kentucky Derby champion and heavy 2-5 favorite. When Smith looked over his shoulder early and saw Good Magic, he thought, "Oh man, it's going to be a match race from this point on," and Justify held up to the challenge down the backstretch and late as Bravazo and Tenfold chased him down.

"They tested his fitness today," Smith said after his second Preakness victory and first since 1993. "This is the hardest race that he's had."

With Baffert praying for the wire at Pimlico, Justify won by a half-length after completing the race in 1:55.93. Bravazo was second, Tenfold third and Good Magic was fourth.

"What I saw of it, I liked it a lot," said veteran D. Wayne Lukas, who trains Bravazo. "I want them to extend it another 50 yards. ... We ran at him. We kept him honest just like we said we would."

Good Magic pressed Justify so much, the Derby runner-up faded near the end of the 1 3/16-mile race and fell out of the money for the first time in his career.

"Oh, man. It was a nail-biter," Baffert told NBC after the race. "They put it to us. That (Good Magic) was a good horse, and it was like they had their own private match race. Somebody had to give, and I'm glad it wasn't us.

"I'm so happy that we got it done. He (Justify) is just a great horse to handle all that pressure and keep on running."

In a dizzying 90-day rush, Justify has rolled from his maiden victory to seizing the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

It takes a remarkable talent to pull off such an unprecedented feat, and he is that -- 1,270 pounds of muscle on muscle combined with a sprinter's quickness and an adaptable mind. Justify was ranked among the heaviest Preakness favorites in recent history.

It won't be known for three weeks if Justify has enough fuel left in his tank to do what American Pharoah did three years ago. NBC analyst and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey said his superior quality will prevent us from seeing vulnerability until he's truly asked to reach deep, as he might be over the 1 1/2 miles at Belmont Park.

Baffert tied Lukas' record with his 14th Triple Crown victory and matched 19th-century trainer R.W. Walden with his seventh Preakness title. Baffert also remained undefeated with Derby winners in the Preakness following Silver Charm, Real Quiet, War Emblem and American Pharoah.

Justify, who paid $2.80, $2.80 and $2.60 as the deserved favorite and improved to 5-0, showed more evidence of being the same kind of super horse as American Pharoah, and Baffert has repeatedly drawn comparisons between them. Those will only continue assuming Justify is good to go for the Belmont in three weeks.

"He has to come out of the race well, and he's got to be training really well," Baffert said. "I did the same thing with American Pharoah, all my horses that ran the Triple Crown, they have to be 100 percent."

Justify looked every bit of 100 percent after a bruised heel in the Derby caused quite the firestorm.

The morning after the Derby, Baffert brought Justify out of his barn for a victory lap, but the horse appeared agitated and unable to put much weight on his left hind leg. Baffert did not notice anything wrong at the time, but when videos of the appearance were posted on social media, speculation swirled that Justify might be lame.

Baffert later said that Justify was dealing with "scratches," a skin irritation that is common among horses who encounter wet surfaces. But when Kentucky Horse Racing Commission veterinarians examined Justify two days later, they found no sign of a rash, instead saying he had a bruised heel.

After a few more days of rest and relaxation, Justify returned to the track looking like his old self. Before he left Kentucky for Baltimore, he was reshod and an adhesive reinforcement was placed on his left hind hoof. Baffert said he was confident that Justify was ready.

Baffert made good on his promise Saturday, when Justify looked no worse for the wear as he toyed with his competition.

Had the Preakness been just a tenth of a mile longer, Justify might have been caught, though Smith thought he had plenty of horse left.

"He withstood that, and even though he got tired today, he was also looking around a bit at the end," Smith said. "Although it was half a length, I certainly could've got after him a whole lot more a little earlier and made him do a little more, as well."

Justify never had to work this hard to win a race, winning his first four starts by a combined 21 1/2 lengths. He didn't blow away the field of three Derby horses and four new challengers on Saturday, but he showed something else.

"These great horses, they just define themselves when they get in that situation," Baffert said. "He just showed not only is he a big, beautiful, gorgeous horse, but he is all racehorse, and that's what it took to win."

photo

AP/NICK WASS

Justify with Mike Smith (7) won the 143rd Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday. Justify held off Bravazo (8) by a half-length to win the race in 1:55.93.

photo

AP/STEVE HELBER

Bob Baffert holds the Woodlawn Vase after his horse Justify won with Mike Smith aboard in the 143rd Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The victory was Baffert’s seventh Preakness Stakes title and his fifth after a Kentucky Derby victory.

Baffert winning Derby, Preakness

Bob Baffert has won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes five times. Here are the horses who won both races and how they fared in the Belmont Stakes.

YEAR HORSE BELMONT

1997 Silver Charm Second

1998 Real Quiet Second

2002 War Emblem Eighth

2015 American Pharoah First*

2018 Justify TBD *American Pharoah won the Triple Crown in 2015.

Preakness Stakes

PGM HORSE WIN PLACE SHOW

7 Justify ...............$2.80 $2.80 $2.60

8 Bravazo ........................ $7.80 $4.80

6 Tenfold .......................................$6.80

Winning time 1:55.93 $1 Exacta (7-8) paid $13.70. $1 Superfecta (7-8-6-5) paid $372.50. $1 Trifecta (7-8-6) paid $148.30.

Preakness champions

2018 — Justify

2017 — Cloud Computing

2016 — Exaggerator

2015 — American Pharoah

2014 — California Chrome

2013 — Oxbow

2012 — I’ll Have Another

2011 — Shackleford

2010 — Lookin at Lucky

2009 — Rachel Alexandra

2008 — Big Brown

2007 — Curlin

2006 — Bernardini

2005 — Afleet Alex

2004 — Smarty Jones

2003 — Funny Cide

2002 — War Emblem

2001 — Point Given

2000 — Red Bullet

1999 — Charismatic

1998 — Real Quiet

1997 — Silver Charm

1996 — Louis Quatorze

1995 — Timber Country

1994 — Tabasco Cat

1993 — Prairie Bayou

1992 — Pine Bluff

1991 — Hansel

1990 — Summer Squall

1989 — Sunday Silence

1988 — Risen Star

1987 — Alysheba

1986 — Snow Chief

1985 — Tank’s Prospect

1984 — Gate Dancer

1983 — Deputed Testamony

1982 — Aloma’s Ruler

1981 — Pleasant Colony

1980 — Codex

1979 — Spectacular Bid

1978 — Affirmed

1977 — Seattle Slew

1976 — Elocutionist

1975 — Master Derby

1974 — Little Current

1973 — Secretariat

1972 — Bee Bee Bee

1971 — Canonero II

1970 — Personality

1969 — Majestic Prince

1968 — Forward Pass

1967 — Damascus

1966 — Kauai King

1965 — Tom Rolfe

1964 — Northern Dancer

1963 — Candy Spots

1962 — Greek Money

1961 — Carry Back

1960 — Bally Ache

1959 — Royal Orbit

1958 — Tim Tam

1957 — Bold Ruler

1956 — Fabius

1955 — Nashua

1954 — Hasty Road

1953 — Native Dancer

1952 — Blue Man

1951 — Bold

1950 — Hill Prince

1949 — Capot

1948 — Citation

1947 — Faultless

1946 — Assault

1945 — Polynesian

1944 — Pensive

1943 — Count Fleet

1942 — Alsab

1941 — Whirlaway

1940 — Bimelech

1939 — Challedon

1938 — Dauber

1937 — War Admiral

1936 — Bold Venture

1935 — Omaha

1934 — High Quest

1933 — Head Play

1932 — Burgoo King

1931 — Mate

1930 — Gallant Fox

1929 — Dr. Freeland

1928 — Victorian

1927 — Bostonian

1926 — Display

1925 — Coventry

1924 — Nellie Morse

1923 — Vigil

1922 — Pillory

1921 — Broomspun

1920 — Man o’ War

1919 — Sir Barton

1918 — War Cloud and Jack Hare, Jr.

1917 — Kalitan

1916 — Damrosch

1915 — Rhine Maiden

1914 — Holiday

1913 — Buskin

1912 — Colonel Holloway

1911 — Watervale

1910 — Lay Master

1909 — Effendi

1908 — Royal Tourist

1907 — Don Enrique

1906 — Whimsical

1905 — Cairngorm

1904 — Bryn Mawr

1903 — Flocarline

1902 — Old England

1901 — The Parader

1900 — Hindus

1899 — Half Time

1898 — Sly Fox

1897 — Paul Kauver

1896 — Margrave

1895 — Belmar

1894 — Assignee

1893-91 — No Races Held

1890 — Montague

1889 — Buddhist

1888 — Refund

1887 — Dubine

1886 — The Bard

1885 — Tecumseh

1884 — Knight of Ellerslie

1883 — Jacobus

1882 — Vanguard

1881 — Saunterer

1880 — Grenada

1879 — Harold

1878 — Duke of Magenta

1877 — Cloverbrook

1876 — Shirley

1875 — Tom Ochiltree

1874 — Culpepper

1873 — Survivor

Sports on 05/20/2018

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