Justify's ownership team knew it had something special from the start

Their partnership together was intended to give them better odds at finding a special horse.

Mission accomplished.

Once WinStar Farms, China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners and Starlight Racing got Justify to trainer Bob Baffert, the quality they saw in the yearling purchased together for $500,000 was confirmed.

“When I kept hearing Bob keep talking about how special this horse is, I got so high, because we’ve had some good horses, but never really a great, great horse,” said WinStar owner Kenny Troutt.

Another partner, Sol Kumin of Head of Plains Partners, became the first owner to win the Kentucky Oaks and the Derby in the same weekend since Calumet Farm in 1952. He won the Oaks on Friday with Monomoy Girl.

“We were super fortunate to be allowed to participate in this group,” said Kumin, who has partnered with WinStar and China Horse Club on other horses. “To be able to be part of a horse like this — we knew kind of right away — we went out to the Santa Anita Derby and spent a lot of time with Bob. I just saw the way he looked at this horse and the way he was acting around the barn.

“I came back and said this thing’s got to be the real deal.”

The real deal was put together two years ago when WinStar reached out to other horse interests to create the environment that paid off with a Derby winner in Justify. It also came home with the Derby’s third-place horse in Audible.

On its own, WinStar could probably put 20 colts in training to try to get to the Derby, Walden said. With the partnerships it’s created with Justify’s connections and others, it could get 30 colts in training.

“This colt was really special as a yearling,” said Elliott Walden, president and CEO of WinStar Farm. “He just stood out. … I got excited when (trainer) Bob (Baffert) told me he had a plan to get to the Derby.”

Despite only three races under his belt, Justify justified the expectations of his trainer and his owners.

“I’m just along for the ride, and it was a great one,” Starlight Racing’s Jack Wolf said. “We’re just tickled to death that we were along for the ride. And we thank Elliott, Mr. Troutt, Mr. Teo (Ah Khing) for letting us get on the bandwagon.”

Teo Ah Khing is founder of China Horse Club, an ownership group that has made a big splash in horse racing over the last three years. China Horse Club won the Kentucky Oaks last year with Baffert and Abel Tasman.

“Thank you America for allowing China Horse Club to set foot here,” said Teo, who brought along the prime minister of St. Lucia to the podium with him as he announced that’s he’s designing a horse track there. “Doors were open and an almost impossible thing happened for us last year at the Kentucky Oaks and this year at the Kentucky Derby.”

After the race, Baffert acknowledged he thought the fast pace of the first quarter and half miles might wear out Justify, but WinStar’s Troutt had just the opposite feeling.

“I thought (the fractions of :22.24 and :45.77) were good, because they were going to get the other ones tired and he was going to go on and win it,” Troutt said. “Down the stretch, I got real excited as he started going and running. But (Bob’s) an A student and I’m a C, so we looked at it different.”

Baffert corrected him. “I was a C student.”

They were aces Saturday.

This story was originally published May 5, 2018 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Justify's ownership team knew it had something special from the start."