Justify schools at gate, gallops six furlongs
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The weather and routine were a bit different Friday morning when Justify went out for exercise, but the bottom line was the same – all is well with the superstar colt as the June 9 Belmont Stakes drew another day closer.
In his second day of training since a swift Tuesday breeze over a fast Churchill Downs surface, Justify and regular exercise rider Humberto Gomez were greeted with a tightly sealed racetrack early Friday, the result of considerable rain in the Louisville area in the preceding 18 hours. With Jimmy Barnes accompanying him astride the Bob Baffert stable pony from the 5 1/2-furlong gap, Justify jogged counterclockwise over to the starting gate stationed at the quarter pole, where he underwent an uneventful schooling session of less than a minute.
From there, he galloped down the stretch, around the clubhouse turn, and down the length of the backstretch, encompassing about three-quarters of a mile. The entire regimen took less than 10 minutes.
Elliott Walden, the former trainer who is president of WinStar Farm, one of the ownership partners in Justify, took it all in.
“I was really pleased with his energy level,” Walden said. “He had his tail up over his back coming home; that’s a good sign.”
Baffert is scheduled to return here Sunday from his California home to oversee a Monday breeze for Justify prior to the colt being flown Wednesday to New York via equine charter. Walden said he hasn’t discussed all the details of the planned work with Baffert but that it probably won’t be as quick as the 46-and-change half-mile the colt recorded here earlier this week in his first drill since winning the May 19 Preakness.
“Bob is always pretty scripted in his breezes,” Walden said. “Whatever he wants. I wouldn’t think it’d be as fast as it was the other day, but the horse is training out of his mind.”
As the heavy favorite in the 150th Belmont, Justify will be seeking to become the 13th horse to sweep the Triple Crown and just the second to do so while unbeaten, following Seattle Slew (1977).
PROSPECTIVE BELMONT STAKES FIELD
| HORSE | TRAINER | JOCKEY | LAST RACE/FINISH |
| Bandua | Dermot Weld | TBD | Allowance - 1st (Cork - IRE) |
| Blended Citizen | Doug O'Neill | Kyle Frey | Peter Pan Stakes - 1st (BEL) |
| Bravazo | D. Wayne Lukas | Luis Saez | Preakness - 2nd (PIM) |
| Free Drop Billy | Dale Romans | Robby Albarado | Kentucky Derby - 16th (CD) |
| Gronkowski | Chad Brown | Jose Ortiz | Burradon Stakes - 1st (Newcastle - ENG) |
| Hofburg | Bill Mott | Irad Ortiz Jr. | Kentucky Derby - 7th (CD) |
| Justify | Bob Baffert | Mike Smith | Preakness - 1st (PIM) |
| Noble Indy | Todd Pletcher | Javier Castellano | Kentucky Derby - 17th (CD) |
| Restoring Hope | Bob Baffert | Flavien Prat | Pat Day Mile - 12th (CD) |
| Seahenge | Aidan O'Brien | Ryan Moore | Pat Day Mile - 7th (CD) |
| Tenfold | Steve Asmussen | Ricardo Santana Jr. | Preakness - 3rd (PIM) |
| Vino Rosso | Todd Pletcher | John Velazquez | Kentucky Derby - 9th (CD) |