Preakness: Baffert, Justify ready to roll

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bob Baffert had been back at his Churchill Downs barn for maybe an hour Monday morning before he finally noticed the new plaque on the cement-block wall commemorating the 2018 Kentucky Derby victory by Justify.

“It’s already up there, huh?” he said, adding with a laugh “They need to extend this wall.”

It’s good to be Bob Baffert. Bullets are dodged as easily as plaques take up space. Plans come together just as you’ve drawn them up on the tack room blackboard. And every one of your Derby winners proceeds to win the Preakness two weeks later.

All true – at least to this point. Baffert, understandably, was in a great mood Monday after watching his fifth and latest Derby winner, Justify, go through seven minutes of routine training on a beautiful morning. A mile and a half of galloping with absolutely no fuss was all that Baffert – who had been home in California for the last week – needed to assure himself that all is right with Justify.

“I just love the way he went around there,” Baffert told 20 or so reporters and cameramen crowded around him afterward. “He looks no different than he did before the Kentucky Derby. We’re pretty happy where we are right now. He looks healthy; didn’t lose an ounce of weight.”

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The infamous blip regarding Justify’s left hind hoof that temporarily caused great concern throughout the racing industry is fading into the background with each passing day. Baffert had Curtis Burns, a noted farrier now living in Wellington, Fla., flown in Sunday night to have the colt reshod.

“We put a full shoe on him and some Equilox [adhesive] for support,” Baffert said. “It looks good. We saw it out there” in his training Monday morning.

Baffert continues to try to explain that Justify had scraped or nicked or bruised – however it is termed – his heel in the May 5 Derby, and that subsequent treatment was swift and effective.

“Any time you run horses on a wet track, it’s very abrasive, especially” Derby Day, he said. “It burns their heels, and they’ll come out with a bruised foot. I looked at it. We started treating it. We jumped on it right away. He was burned a little bit down there.” Two days after the Derby, “we three-quartered the shoe to relieve the pressure there.

“We deal with these issues constantly in horse racing,” said Baffert, noting that if he had been truly concerned he would not have returned to California. “We know exactly how to jump on something like this.”

Justify was to be flown Wednesday on an equine charter out of Louisville International Airport. With as many as 21 horses booked to fly, the loading process at Churchill was to begin about 10 a.m. Eastern, with the flight departing about noon for Baltimore-Washington International. Arrival was scheduled for about 2 p.m.

Baffert said he would personally arrive Wednesday in Baltimore, ahead of Justify, who on Saturday will be heavily favored in the 143rd Preakness at Pimlico Race Course. All four of Baffert’s previous Derby winners – Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998), War Emblem (2002), and American Pharoah (2015) – won the Preakness, too. Baffert also won the Preakness in 2001 with Point Given and in 2010 with Lookin At Lucky, both of them beaten favorites in the Derby.

Baffert said he is taking nothing for granted and that the challenge of running back on two weeks’ rest after making it through the grind of the Derby trail is never easy.

“It always helps to have the best horse,” he said. “It’d be great if Justify showed he was the best horse again.”

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◗ Before leaving Tuesday on a van for Pimlico, Tenfold had his final pre-race work early Monday at Churchill when going a half-mile in 49.40 seconds with trainer Steve Asmussen on hand.

Tenfold, fifth in the Arkansas Derby in his last start, is a son of Curlin, winner of the 2007 Preakness for Asmussen.

PROSPECTIVE PREAKNESS FIELD

HORSE	TRAINER	JOCKEY	LAST RACE
Bravazo	D. Wayne Lukas	Luis Saez	6th, Kentucky Derby (CD)
Diamond King	John Servis	Javier Castellano	1st, Tesio Stakes (LRL)
Good Magic	Chad Brown	Jose Ortiz	2nd, Kentucky Derby (CD)
Justify	Bob Baffert	Mike Smith	1st, Kentucky Derby (CD)
Lone Sailor	Tom Amoss	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	8th, Kentucky Derby (CD)
Quip	Rodolphe Brisset	Florent Geroux	2nd, Arkansas Derby (OP)
Sporting Chance	D. Wayne Lukas	Luis Contreras	4th, Pat Day Mile (CD)
Tenfold	Steve Asmussen	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	5th, Arkansas Derby (OP)