Kentucky Derby winner Justify overcomes obstacles to prove he's the real deal

Not rain, not slop, not fast fractions, not a powerhouse 20-horse field, not even the infamous “Apollo’s Curse,” was enough to stop Justify from his appointed destiny in Saturday’s 144th running of the Kentucky Derby.

The lightly raced son of Scat Daddy, trained by Bob Baffert, confirmed his brilliance by breaking well from the starting gate, capturing the lead after a fast early pace, then impressively putting away his talented opposition before a soaked crowd of 157,813, the eighth-largest in Churchill Downs history.

Blue Grass Stakes winner Good Magic finished second for trainer Chad Brown while Audible, one of trainer Todd Pletcher’s quartet of entries, ran third on the sloppy track that produced a winning time of 2:04.20.

“He’s just a superior horse,” said Baffert, who placed Justify in the stellar company of previous champions he has trained. “Arrogate, American Pharoah, those are just superior horses.”

It was the fifth Kentucky Derby win for Baffert, snapping a tie with D. Wayne Lukas for third place on the career trainer’s list and putting the 65-year-old Californian just one behind Calumet Farm’s legendary Ben Jones, who trained six Derby winners from 1938 to 1952.

It was the second Kentucky Derby victory for Woodford County’s WinStar Farm, owned by Kenny Troutt, which won in 2010 with Super Saver. This time WinStar teamed with China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners and Starlight Racing in a partnership that also owns third-place finisher Audible.

It was also the second Derby win for jockey Mike Smith, who rode long shot Giacomo to victory in 2005. At age 52, Smith became the second-oldest jockey to take home the roses. Only the legendary Bill Shoemaker, who was 54 years old when he won aboard Ferdinand for the great trainer Charlie Whittingham, was older.

Last but not least, Justify became the first horse since Apollo, way back in 1882 to not race as a 2-year-old and win the Kentucky Derby at 3.

The sixth straight favorite to win the Derby, Justify had created some California buzz with a 9½-length maiden race win in his first outing on Feb. 18, then a 6½-length victory in the mud at Santa Anita his second time out. He then earned his trip to Louisville with a 3-length victory in the Santa Anita Derby on April 7.

Still, skeptics wondered if the colt Baffert had half-jokingly used Secretariat’s nickname of “Big Red” to describe had the proper foundation and seasoning to get the mile-and-a-quarter distance against such a talented field.

“This is the toughest bunch I’ve ever been involved with,” said Baffert on Saturday, and his first Derby was more than two decades ago in 1996.

Then there was the weather, the nasty, miserable weather that drenched the Downs nearly all day and turned the racetrack surface into a quagmire of thick mud.

“I couldn’t believe the weather,” said Baffert. “I was not liking it at all.”

Once Justify cleanly snapped out of the starting gate from his No. 7 post position, however, the next challenge was a fast early pace set by frontrunner Promises Fulfilled. The Fountain of Youth winner, trained by Dale Romans, covered the first quarter in a fast :22.24 and the half-mile in :45.77.

Even when Justify took the lead into the final turn, the worry was the sloppy track and fast pace might take its toll on such an inexperienced colt.

“When I saw the first (quarter-mile) was 22 and change and the half 45 and change, I thought that’s too fast,” Baffert said afterward. “I thought this poor little horse is just gonna lay down.”

Instead, Justify kept going and going.

“I don’t know why I keep using this term, but this horse is just so above average it’s unbelievable,” Smith said. “I just kept a leg on each side of him and my mind in the middle.”

Good Magic, the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, tracked Justify around the turn and down the stretch but could never close the 2½-length gap.

“It’s just one of those years when you run into a really, really good horse,” said Brown, trainer of runner-up Good Magic. “Good Magic is probably a horse that could have won several Derbys. Just not this one.”

Florida Derby winner Audible struggled with the track early and was 12th after three-quarters of a mile before making a move that was too little too late to challenge the winner.

"(Justify) didn’t have a straw in his path, and that’s to his credit,” said Pletcher, who won last year’s Derby with Always Dreaming. “Bob did a great job with that horse.”

Indeed, Baffert did masterful work in a ridiculously tight window after WinStar CEO and President Elliott Walden shipped Justify from Keeneland to Baffert’s barn at Los Alamitos. Baffert said the first time he worked Justify he knew the colt was special and that after his maiden win “I thought the timer had made a mistake. I didn’t think he had gone that fast.”

With great talent comes great expectations, along with a healthy dose of pressure.

“It’s like having LeBron,” Baffert said Saturday. “If you have LeBron on your team, you’d better win.”

Not rain or slop or strong opposition or a 136-year-old curse could keep Justify from winning the 144th Kentucky Derby.

“I knew I had something special,” said Baffert, “but he had to prove it today.”

And he did.

Remaining Triple Crown races

May 19: Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

June 9: Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

This story was originally published May 5, 2018 at 10:02 PM with the headline "Kentucky Derby winner Justify overcomes obstacles to prove he's the real deal."