As training hours wound down on the morning of Feb. 18 at Santa Anita, Bob Baffert was asked about a first-time starter by Scat Daddy who was to make his debut that afternoon. “I’ve got big plans for that colt,” he said. A few hours later, Justify burst onto the scene, and though his career lasted only five more starts over the next 111 days, what he accomplished in that time was remarkable. “You’ll never see another horse like this,” Baffert said while admiring Justify in his stall at Pimlico the morning after the Preakness. Justify became the first Triple Crown winner to never have made a start at 2. He also became the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby without racing at 2 since Apollo in 1882; from 1937 through 2017, 61 horses had failed in that endeavor. Justify also gave Baffert his fifth win in the Derby, placing him second all-time behind Ben Jones, and his second Triple Crown winner – following American Pharoah – equaling a mark set by Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons in the 1930s. Justify, bred by John Gunther, was purchased as a yearling for $500,000 at the Keeneland September sale and initially was owned in partnership by China Horse Club, WinStar Farm, and S F Racing. He began his early training at WinStar, then worked several times at Keeneland under the direction of trainer Rodolphe Brisset before heading West to Baffert’s barn. Owing to minor issues at 2 – “He pulled something behind breezing and needed 30 to 60 days off,” said Elliott Walden, president and chief executive of WinStar – Justify was late getting to the races, and thus had to be put on an accelerated schedule to make the Derby, let alone compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown. Yet he cleared every hurdle. After winning his debut going seven furlongs, Justify won a one-mile allowance race at Santa Anita that set him up for his stakes debut, in the Santa Anita Derby. His rapidly growing list of admirers grew, as Head of Plains Partners and Starlight Racing acquired racing shares in Justify following the allowance win. In the Santa Anita Derby, Justify turned back the highly accomplished Bolt d’Oro in a manner that sent him to the Kentucky Derby as the favorite, despite his brief, three-race résumé. He won the Derby, downing last year’s champion 2-year-old male, Good Magic, then moved on to Pimlico, where he emerged from a soupy fog with a narrow lead after being challenged by Good Magic and held on in his toughest test to date. All that remained was the Belmont, and, as in the Preakness, Justify led every step of the way, the victory culminating a stunning, meteoric campaign. Justify is an overwhelming favorite to win this division and would become the fourth straight 3-year-old champion trained by Baffert, following American Pharoah, Arrogate, and West Coast. He would be the ninth in the category trained by Baffert in 22 years, beginning with Silver Charm in 1997. Justify – who is out of the Ghostzapper mare Stage Magic – was retired from racing in July, and his syndication to Coolmore America was officially announced in September. He begins stud duty in February.