LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Without any of the drama or whispers that accompanied his first day of training following the Kentucky Derby, Justify returned to training Thursday morning at Churchill Downs for the first time since his epic Preakness triumph amid building excitement toward the final leg of the Triple Crown, the June 9 Belmont Stakes.

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.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher has won two of the last five Belmont Stakes and he is a head and a nose shy of having won four of the last five.

On June 9, when the unbeaten Justify attempts to become Thoroughbred racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner in the 150th Belmont Stakes, Pletcher will once again be a participant in the race. 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.

Clearly, winning three races in a span of five weeks is not as simple as it sounds, and the dozen horses who have done it went through the ordeal with a variety of outcomes.

BALTIMORE – 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.

ELMONT, N.Y. – 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.

I’ll Have Another put in strong daily 1 1/2-mile gallops after arriving in New York following the Preakness, and they apparently took their toll, as he was diagnosed with a tendon injury the day before the Belmont Stakes and was subsequently retired.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Coming to the top of the Belmont Park stretch, when Kyle Frey guided Blended Citizen outside and into the clear after sitting behind three horses, the 26-year-old jockey, riding his first ever race at Belmont Park, was quite confident.

“Once he got outside, I knew it was over,” Frey said. “I should have just thrown my stick over the inside rail.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – 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.

Trainer Keith Desormeaux said on Friday that My Boy Jack is being considered for two Grade 1 races – the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on dirt on June 9, or the $1.2 million Belmont Derby at 1 1/4 miles on turf on July 7.

Desormeaux was leaning slightly toward the Belmont Derby as of Friday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – 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.

On Tuesday, it was announced that Gronkowski, the 3-year-old named for New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, is being moved from trainer Jeremy Noseda to Brown by owner Phoenix Thoroughbreds. On Wednesday, Brown said he expected the horse to clear quarantine Monday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – 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.

Trainer Doug O’Neill intends to run Blended Citizen in the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park on May 12 as a prep for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on June 9. The $350,000 Peter Pan Stakes is run at 1 1/8 miles.

“He acts like a stamina horse,” O’Neill said. “We were hoping to have a chance in the Kentucky Derby.”