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."
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