This Week in Racing: Justify, Monomoy Girl rightful winners

The curse is over. The best horse won the Kentucky Derby in style. Over a remarkable four-month stretch, Justify has gone from highly regarded, but yet to race maiden, to the toast of the racing world. To get there, he needed to bring the goods over a waterlogged Churchill Downs main track, which had been besieged by heavy rains for most of Saturday afternoon.

Often a sloppy track race outcome ends in a questionable or false result. It can also be said that Justify had the perfect trip in a race that so often affords its participants far less. Last year, for example, I left Churchill Downs with the nagging feeling that the best horse had not worn the roses. This year is completely different.

Justify had never been ten furlongs previously, and for that matter, had never raced anywhere but the friendly confines of Santa Anita before. He came into the Kentucky Derby with so much obvious ability, but so very short on experience. Never before having faced any sort of racing adversity, the son of Scat Daddy was being thrown a lot to handle on Saturday. Suffice it to say, he was up to the challenge.

I mentioned the perfect trip, but this horse had to work hard to make it so. He broke out of the crowded Kentucky Derby like a dream, and chased the one horse he didn't mind being behind early through a blazing sprint past the Churchill Downs stands for the first time. He put himself into perfect position for the rest of the race, but that :22.24 first quarter mile would have been enough to take the starch right out of a normal horse. Justify is no normal horse.

Putting away Promises Fulfilled when he needed to, he first quickly shrugged off a brief challenge from Bolt d'Oro, before bracing from the real challenge presented by the 2-year-old champ, Good Magic. Although the challenge was earnest, Justify never gave Good Magic any indication that he had a chance to get by. Yes indeed, this Kentucky Derby was won by the best horse.

A rallying Audible joined Good Magic in running big, but no horse was going to deny Justify on this day. Justify is ZATT's Star of the Week!

From here, only the sky would appear to be the limit to the mega talent. Despite a little skin irritation in one hoof, Justify came out of the race very well, and as of Monday morning, the quality of competition he is expected to face in the Preakness will be minuscule compared to the Derby. Make no mistake, there will be plenty of horses waiting for a shot at him in the Belmont, but the likelihood of him getting to New York with a Triple Crown on the line seems very strong.

Certainly the story of this Kentucky Derby is not complete in talking about only the horse. From the stable hands who work with him every day, to his many owners, to his jockey, Mike Smith, who makes a habit of coming up big in America's most important of events, the human connections of the winner of Kentucky Derby 144 need to be complimented for a job extremely well done. Of course, there is one member of the team, who stands out above all the rest.

Quick with a quip, trainer Bob Baffert has proven himself as the cream of the crop over the last quarter century, and as far as the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown is concerned, he is well on his way to becoming the greatest of all-time. Consider this: On Saturday, Baffert visited the Derby winner's circle for the fifth time, leaving him only one short of the record of the legendary Ben Jones, who had all those wonderful Calumet stars in his arsenal. And at 13 overall Triple Crown series wins, Baffert is now only one behind the 14 won by D. Wayne Lukas.

As we all know, Baffert became the only trainer to win the Triple Crown in the last 37 years when he guided American Pharoah to history in 2015, but his record is also remarkable in getting his Derby winners through the middle jewel. If Justify does indeed win again on May 19, he will become the fifth horse Baffert trained to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, joining Silver Charm, Real Quiet, War Emblem, and American Pharoah.

What is it that allows Baffert such success? The qualities are probably too numerous to list, but clearly, they shine the brightest when most of America is watching.

Monomoy Girl Stars in the Kentucky Oaks

Of course, the Kentucky Derby was not the only huge race of the weekend. Playing a strong second fiddle to the Run for the Roses, the Kentucky Oaks is the most prestigious race of the year for the 3-year-old fillies, and just like the Derby, this year we had a good one.

Monomoy Girl has raced but three times in 2018, but she has already accomplished so much for her trainer and Louisville native Brad Cox. In the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra back in February, she hit the gate early, and the speedy daughter of Tapizar needed a big rally to win that one going away. Then, in the Grade 1 Ashland, she demonstrated what she could do as the lone speed, by absolutely blitzing her opponents at Keeneland.

On Friday, and in her biggest test yet, she faced not only solid speed, but also the far outside post of 14. Together with her regular pilot, Florent Geroux, she handled everything like a pro, but still had to fend off a spirited challenge by the Canadian-bred Wonder Gadot. That filly was running the race of her life, but in the end, the best horse won. Midnight Bisou, who surprisingly went off as a slight favorite over Monomoy Girl, did not have a perfect trip, but was only third best in the Oaks.

Monomoy Girl has now won six of seven lifetime starts, with her only loss coming when second in a tough decision last fall. She has already won at four different tracks, and clearly can win from different places early in the race. In other words, she is all class.