Justify has settled in at Churchill Downs, was scheduled to return to the track for training Thursday, and will have at least one workout there in preparation for the Belmont Stakes on June 9, when he tries to become the sport's 13th Triple Crown winner and the second for trainer Bob Baffert.
Trainer Todd Pletcher, who has won two of the last five Belmont Stakes, will once again be a participant in the race this year. How many runners he has, however, will depend upon decisions that will be forthcoming from his owners.
Never mind how a horse can lose the Triple Crown. That's been done to death. Based on the speed, class, and broad-shouldered determination of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Justify, it will be more entertaining to wonder how he might win the dang thing, and where he will fit in the history of racing's most treasured achievement if he does.
The degree of difficulty for Justify’s bid to become Thoroughbred racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner at the June 9 Belmont Stakes in New York won’t be known until some important decisions are made by his ownership group regarding other horses.
Trainer Doug O’Neill said that when it comes to preparing for the Belmont Stakes, he will take a different approach with Blended Citizen than he did six years ago with I’ll Have Another, who was injured and scratched from the race one day before he was to make a bid for the Triple Crown.
Blended Citizen ran down Core Beliefs to win the Grade 3, $350,000 Peter Pan Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park and move on to the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on June 9.
My Boy Jack, who was fifth in the Kentucky Derby on May 5, may have his next start at Belmont Park, but it could come on dirt or on turf.
While Chad Brown doesn't plan on running Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic in the Belmont Stakes, he could have another horse in that race.
Blended Citizen was scratched from Saturday's Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs after failing to draw into the race from the also-eligible list on Friday morning. The recent stakes winner will not be idle for long.
Viewership of Saturday's Belmont Stakes broadcast on NBC and its digital platforms was down sharply compared with last year, according to figures provided by the network, as the race's lack of star power took its toll.
