Justify 'fine,' Baffert says of minor leg irritation

Justify, the Kentucky Derby winner, jogged fine at the barn on Monday morning at Churchill Downs, one day after his reaction to walking over gravel in the stable area with some minor irritation on his left hind leg caused social media to go into a tizzy.

"He's so much better today," trainer Bob Baffert said Monday via telephone from Santa Anita while watching his horses train. “Believe me, half those horses who ran on that track had something. It’s from running in the mud. It's like diaper rash.

"We jogged him Sunday in the shed and he was fine. When I brought him out to show everyone, he stepped on the gravel and he was a little sensitive to it. He jogged today at the barn and he’s fine.”

Justify is scheduled to go back to the track on Wednesday or Thursday after a few days of walking at the barn. He is scheduled to fly to Pimlico a few days before the Preakness. His day-to-day care at Churchill Downs is being overseen by assistant Jim Barnes until Baffert returns this weekend.

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