Belmont Stakes: Justify gallops, Tenfold works

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On a Saturday morning at Churchill Downs when Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Justify had a maintenance training day with a gallop, one of his rivals for next Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, Tenfold, got a little more serious, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.60 over a fast track.

The third-place finisher from the Preakness, in which he was beaten three-quarters of a length, Tenfold traveled comfortably for the opening quarter-mile before picking up the pace with steady furlongs in approximately 12 seconds each thereafter. Churchill Downs clockers timed him in splits of 25.20 seconds, 37.20, and 49.40 before catching him galloping out six furlongs in 1:15 and seven furlongs in 1:28.40.

The move was standard for the 3-year-old son of Curlin, whose five-furlong workouts this year have all fallen in the 1:00 to 1:02 range. Trainer Steve Asmussen said the move was meant to keep him in a steady rhythm.

“He’s a gorgeous individual, physically and pedigree-wise and how he’s traveling,” Asmussen said while sitting atop his pony Saturday. “We’ll see if we can turn that into a classic victory.”

As he later noted, the prospect of beating Justify, along with all the other horses in the Belmont, is a tall order. The 1 1/2-mile race likely will have a large cast with up to a dozen entries.

Asmussen, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016, is no stranger to Belmont success, having won the race in 2016 with Creator.

As for Justify, he continues to train with the enthusiasm seen from him all spring. He galloped smoothly on Saturday, not showing any fatigue after winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown over the past four weeks. He is expected to gallop again Sunday before breezing Monday under the supervision of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

Justify looms a pronounced favorite in the Belmont, just as he was in the Preakness, in which he edged Bravazo by a half-length at odds of 2-5. He is scheduled to leave for New York on Wednesday, a day after Tenfold and the Asmussen-trained runners prepared for supporting stakes depart.

A victory in the Belmont would make Justify just the 13th winner of the Triple Crown and only the second to do so while unbeaten, following Seattle Slew in 1977. The Baffert-trained American Pharoah was the last Triple Crown winner, in 2015, ending a 37-year drought.