Page 37 - Speedhorse August 2018

JUSTIFY
Johannesburg
Love Style
Ghostzapper
Magical Illusion
Hennessy
Myth
Mr. Prospector Likeable Style Awesome Again Baby Zip
Pulpit
Voodoo Lily
Storm Cat Island Kitty Ogygian Yarn
Raise A Native Gold Digger Nijinsky II Personable Lady Deputy Minister Primal Force Relaunch
Thirty Zip
A.P. Indy
Preach
Baldski
Cap The Moment
Scat Daddy
Stage Magic
three starts at Santa Anita Park. The first start came on Feb. 18 with a 7-furlong maiden special weight race, winning by 9 1/2-lengths. He came back on March 11 to win an allowance optional-claiming race at one mile by 6 1/2-lengths. These two starts put him into the Kentucky Derby buzz.
Justify definitely jumped into the Kentucky Derby buzz with his win in the Santa Anita Derby-G1 on April 7. He went in a time of 1:49.72 for the 1 1/8-mile
race. The win was a 3-length victory over Bolt D’Oro, the winner of the San Felipe Stakes-G2 and a major player in the Run for the Roses in 2018.
Justify was installed as the 3-to-1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby based on his three wins. He would not disappoint on May
5, with a win by 2 1/2-lengths over a muddy track in a time of 2:04.20. Good Magic, the 2017 Eclipse Champion 2-Year-Old Colt, was second. The Preakness Stakes-G1 win came on May 19 by 2-lengths on a sloppy track in a time of 1:55.93 for the 1 3/16- mile race. Bravazo, the winner of the Risen Star Stakes-G2, was second. Then on June
9 the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes-G1 win came on a fast track, with Justify winning by 1 3/4-lengths over Gronkowski in a time of 2:28.18. Gronkowski got to the Derby as the winner of the Road to The Kentucky Derby Conditions Stakes in England.
When Justify crossed the finish line in
the Belmont Stakes, he had accomplished
what some thought was impossible. He was
a nonstarter at two, undefeated in six starts,
a 4-time Grade 1 winner with earnings of $3,798,000, a Triple Crown Champion, and he did it all in 112 days. His record brings back a comment by Hanley in the Mitchell article after Justify had won the Santa Anita Derby, “He has benefited from that time and has only matured into what he is as a 3 year old.”
John D. Gunther. He was purchased at
the Keeneland September Yearling Sale
for $500,000 by China Horse Club and Maverick Racing. He would go to Bob Baffert for training under the ownership
of WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Head of Plains Racing, and Starlight Racing.
In April 2018, Ron Mitchell reported on Bloodhorse.com in the article “Justify Runs To His $500,000 Yearling Price Tag” where Winstar Farm’s manager David Hanley described the colt. “He was a beautiful yearling—had great balance and leg, great shoulder and lovely length, and neck, and power,” Hanley said. “He had great stature—was a very impressive horse when he was pulled out in front of you. For a big horse, he was very light on his feet with good action and good energy. All in all, he looked like a nice package. He moved like a horse that could be a powerful dirt horse. All the partners liked him.” The partners looking the colt were Elliott Walden, Winstar Farm’s CEO and President, and China Horse Club partners Michael Wallace, Tom Ryan and Mick Flanagan.
“Obviously, there was plenty of interest because we had to pay a lot for him,” Hanley continued. “But he was one Elliott and our partners felt very strongly about having a good shot at buying. Sometimes you get them and sometimes you get outbid. Luckily, he fell our way.”
The description of Justify as a yearling shows that he was an outstanding individual from the beginning, but he needed to continue his development into the racehorse he has become. Mitchell quoted Hanley about why Justify didn’t race at two. «We always thought he would go a classic distance on dirt,” he said. “He was a big horse and as a 2 year old, we gave him a little bit of time.»
Justify got his late start on the Triple Crown trail in February of this year with
There is more to his story that sets him apart from the others who have won
this title. Justify became the second Triple Crown Champion to be an undefeated winner of the title. Seattle Slew was the
first in 1977. Justify is also the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby-G1 since Apollo in 1882 with no starts at two. Justify gave trainer Bob Baffert his second Triple Crown Championship, equaling the record of the legendary trainer Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, who accomplished it in 1930 with Gallant Fox and in 1935 with Omaha. It gave jockey Mike Smith his first Triple Crown Championship and seven wins in Triple Crown races. Smith is also the oldest, at 52, to win the Triple Crown.
Now, let’s look at the pedigree of our latest Triple Crown winner to see where he came from. Justify was bred by Glennwood Farm of Versailles, Kentucky, owned by
SPEEDHORSE, August 2018 35
SPEEDLINES
Coady Photography