LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Justify was scheduled to return to training Thursday at Churchill Downs as his connections continue to make assurances that the Kentucky Derby winner will not be hampered by the minor foot bruise he incurred in the race Saturday. Jimmy Barnes, the Bob Baffert assistant who is overseeing Justify at Churchill, said Wednesday the colt was closely examined the previous day by veterinary staff from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and was cleared to resume training. “He’s fine,” said Barnes. “They went over him and couldn’t find a thing wrong with him. He just bruised his [left-hind] heel, and it’s done. He’ll be out there training at 7:30.” :: Get the Preakness All-Access package for just $29.95 Baffert was scheduled to speak Thursday on a teleconference sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. He is scheduled to be back at Churchill from his California home to oversee Justify’s training no later than Sunday. The colt will then be flown Wednesday to Baltimore, where he will be heavily favored in the May 19 Preakness at Pimlico Race Course. Justify, with Mike Smith riding, won the Derby by 2 1/2 lengths over Good Magic, keeping the colt unbeaten in four starts. Seattle Slew (1977) is the only horse to sweep the Triple Crown while still undefeated. Baffert’s place in Derby standings By winning the Derby for the fifth time, Baffert now trails only Ben Jones for the most victories in America’s greatest race – although it has long been argued that Jones was not the actual trainer of all six of his Derby winners, from 1938-52. Jones’s son Jimmy trained Citation for the majority of the horse’s legendary career – except when the 1948 Kentucky Derby rolled around and Ben became the trainer of record. In a story written for The Paulick Report in 2015 by Bud Lamoreaux, a longtime sports-television producer who worked many major racing events, the Joneses were having a “not-so-quiet battle” behind the scenes as Ben Jones was looking to pad his Derby numbers. “Son of a gun,” Lamoreaux quoted Jimmy Jones saying to broadcaster Heywood Hale Broun, “he just stole him from me.” Lamoreaux also wrote: “Citation had 45 career starts, finishing out of the money only once, and Jimmy was there for every one of them. He really loved Citation like no other campaigner he had ever trained, and he kept trumpeting that brilliance until the day he died” in 2001. Jimmy Jones’s biography from his 1959 induction into the Racing Hall of Fame reads in part: “Although he trained many champions with his father, Jimmy Jones was the trainer of record for seven champions, including Triple Crown winner Citation.” Jimmy Jones eventually had two Derby winners of his own in Iron Liege (1957) and Tim Tam (1958). Citation's victories in the Preakness and Belmont are credited to Jimmy Jones. These are the all-time Derby standings: Ben Jones, 6 wins from 11 starts; Baffert, 5 for 29; Dick Thompson, 4 for 26; and D. Wayne Lukas, 4 for 49. Quip confirmed by WinStar After a couple days of equivocation, Quip has been confirmed to run in the Preakness, officials at Pimlico announced Tuesday. Elliott Walden, president of WinStar Farm, one of Quip’s owners, had reserved judgment after Justify won the Kentucky Derby because WinStar also is a co-owner of Justify. Walden told Pimlico that Quip “deserves the opportunity.” “We purposely skipped the Derby pointing for the Preakness,” Walden said. “We looked at it at that time and asked the question, if we did win the Derby, would we still run Quip in the Preakness? We all kind of answered yes. But I wanted to take a fresh look at it after the race and make sure.” Quip, the winner of the March 10 Tampa Bay Derby and second in the April 14 Arkansas Derby, had enough qualifying points to run in the Derby, but Walden and trainer Rodolphe Brisset agreed the Distorted Humor colt would be better served by waiting the additional two weeks for the Preakness. Florent Geroux will have the mount on Quip, whose latest breeze, a half-mile in 48 seconds, came last Thursday over a fast track at Brisset’s base at Keeneland. The colt is scheduled to have his final prerace work this weekend at Keeneland before departing for Baltimore. Preakness field in flux With Chad Brown still considering Good Magic for the Preakness, the field for the 1 3/16-mile race remains in flux. Besides Justify and Quip, the only other 3-year-olds confirmed is the D. Wayne Lukas duo of Bravazo and Sporting Chance. Others who are probable to possible for the race are Diamond King, Tenfold, Givemeaminit, and Lone Sailor. Trainer Tom Amoss said he expects a decision on Lone Sailor no later than Saturday evening. Good Magic returned to the track Wednesday morning, jogging a mile over the Belmont Park training track. Brown said he has still not decided if Good Magic will run in the Preakness. “I was happy with him, he’s moving real well,” Brown said. “He seemed happy enough coming home. Just take it day by day.” Meanwhile, trainer Todd Pletcher said Wednesday that Pony Up, runner-up to Blended Citizen in the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park in March, is possible for the Preakness. Pony Up is owned by Brad Kelley’s Calumet Farm, which won the Preakness in 2013 with Oxbow and is already pointing Bravazo to the Preakness. “Mr. Kelley asked us to keep an eye on that with the Sir Barton as a backup,” Pletcher said, referring to a race for 3-year-olds on the Preakness undercard. “We’ll buy the extra week and see how things unfold.” Pony Up is a son of Aikenite. He is 1 for 7 with a third-place finish behind My Boy Jack in the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland being his most recent start. Pletcher said that his Derby quartet of Audible, Vino Rosso, Magnum Moon, and Noble Indy all went back to the track Wednesday. None is being considered for the Preakness, though Audible and Vino Rosso are pointing to the Belmont Stakes. ◗ The Tex Sutton equine charter flight that will transport Justify and the other Kentucky-based horses next Wednesday from Louisville International Airport is expected to land at Baltimore-Washington International at about 1:30 p.m. Eastern, according to company representative Greg Otteson. The charter actually will originate in Southern California before stopping over in Louisville, where it will take off again around noon. The flight will carry a maximum of 21 horses, and there will not be a second load, as in some prior years, said Otteson. – additional reporting by David Grening :: Get the Preakness All-Access package for just $29.95