Justify takes it easy in Saturday gallop
At Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Justify was sent through another routine gallop when going about 1 1/2 miles on Saturday morning under regular exercise rider Humberto Gomez as the unbeaten colt continues to train toward the 150th Belmont Stakes on June 9.
“We changed it up this morning,” deadpanned Jimmy Barnes, the Bob Baffert assistant who is temporarily overseeing the daily training of the Churchill string. “We backed up to the eighth pole” instead of the wire, which has been customary. “Galloped a good mile and a half again.”
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Baffert is expected here Monday from his California home to oversee training for at least a couple of mornings. Barnes said it has not yet been decided whether Justify will breeze when Baffert is in town.
In the meantime, Barnes said: “I couldn’t be happier with the way things are going. Bob said just take it easy with him, don’t do too much. He’s doing that very easily out there.”
Barnes said Restoring Hope, a Belmont possible, could breeze when Baffert is here but that a decision on his race status probably won’t be made until a later date.
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 | TBD | Kentucky Derby - 16th (CD) |
| Gronkowski | Chad Brown | TBD | 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 | TBD | Pat Day Mile - 7th (CD) |
| Tenfold | Steve Asmussen | Ricardo Santana Jr. | Preakness - 3rd (PIM) |
| Vino Rosso | Todd Pletcher | John Velazquez | Kentucky Derby - 9th (CD) |