LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When Bob Baffert realized Justify was something special after his debut race, the Hall of Fame trainer didn’t hesitate in seeking a more experienced rider for what he had planned for the freakishly talented 3-year-old colt. So, even though young Drayden Van Dyke had ridden Justify to a 9 1/2-length victory on Feb. 18, Baffert called Mike Smith and told him he would be riding Justify in his next start. Baffert had already started dreaming of the Kentucky Derby. “Experience, it’s a big deal,” Baffert said. “Drayden Van Dyke, he’s a great little rider, he’s not there yet. Lot of pressure, especially on Derby Day, I’ve seen it. The pressure can get to them. I needed somebody that’s been there so many times.” Smith had been to the Kentucky Derby 23 times, but had only one victory, aboard 50-1 Giacomo in 2005. He had finished second four times, including aboard the Baffert-trained Bodemeister in 2012. But for all his mounts, Smith never had ridden anything in the Derby as good as Justify. On Saturday, in the slop at Churchill Downs - in what was the rainiest Kentucky Derby in the race’s 144-year history - Smith got his second victory in the world’s most famous horse race, guiding Justify, the 5-2 favorite, to a 2 1/2-length victory over Good Magic, the champion 2-year-old of 2017. “He might be one of the most incredible 3-year-olds you’ve ever seen, really,” Smith said. “It took something like that to break that curse, he’s just incredible.” Smith was referring to what has been called the “Curse of Apollo.” Apollo, in 1882, was the last horse to win the Kentucky Derby without having raced as a 2-year-old. At 52, Smith became the second-oldest jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. He is just two years younger than Bill Shoemaker, who in 1986 won the Derby at age 54 aboard Ferdinand. “I knew I had another one in me,” said Smith, who had finished second in four other Derbies. Smith said he had been excited about Justify since he was told he was going to ride him. Smith guided him to victories in an allowance race at Santa Anita - over a wet track - and the Santa Anita Derby, beating Bolt d’Oro. Smith said the experience over a wet track helped calm his fears when day-long rain turned the Churchill Downs main track into a sea of slop. “At least he ran in it once,” Smith said. “Otherwise I’d have been freaking out.” Smith said the whole key to Justify's Derby success was the break. Justify, breaking from post 7, indeed broke alertly and found himself attending the hot pace established by Promises Fulfilled, who ran an opening quarter in 22.24 seconds and a half-mile in 45.77. “He got away good, then Bolt d’Oro come to my outside and pushed me a little early, that concerned me a little,” Smith said. “I knew we were probably going to hit a :46 [half-mile] and it was even faster. I looked underneath my arm a little bit and they were all right behind me. I said, ‘If I’m going fast, so are they.’ ” Justify cruised to the front at the three-eighths pole, but had to run only a 25.24-second third quarter to do so. “I hit the front at the three-eighths pole, I let him take a little bit of a breather, kind of let him gather himself up because he responds to you very well," Smith said. “When I sat him down and just gave him that [crack of the whip] he jumped into it again and good thing, because Good Magic was coming and he held him at bay. He wasn’t going to let him by him. “I’m more relieved than anything,” Smith added. “Later on I’ll start getting excited. With a horse this talented I just needed to do my job.” Smith, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003, will keep doing his job as long as he gets opportunities to ride horses like Justify. “Just keep riding horses like this, they’ll keep you around a long time,” he said. “You don’t have to work a whole lot, they do the work for you.”