After Triple Crown win, Smith says 'I ain't done yet'

Mike Smith tends to be walking around his house when, “every now and then,” it hits him. He’s a Triple Crown-winning jockey.

“I’ve got to sit down again after I think about it,” said Smith, who visited Kentucky Downs this week to sign photos of Justify for a trio of charitable causes: Old Friends Farm, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and The Giving Circle.

“Trying to put into words what it means and what it feels like is almost impossible to do,” he added. “It’s just life changing. It’s the most complete, humble feeling that you can possibly feel.”

While Justify has since retired, with stud plans pending, the glow of a Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes sweep has not faded for Smith. It’s been a long time coming for the 53-year-old from New Mexico.

“I always felt for some odd reason that I was going to win one. But it took so long,” he said. “To win it at this stage in my career, I think that’s the reason maybe God made me wait so long, because I appreciate it so much more. I don’t think I would have at a young age. There’s so much ahead of you.”

When reliving the final leg, the Hall of Fame rider said he calls upon only his memory. He hasn’t once watched a full replay of the Belmont.

“I really haven’t,” he said. “It’s so vivid in my imagination, I don’t need to watch it. I remember every single step. From the time I got on him in the paddock, I truly, truly remember every step like it just happened, actually.”

Smith went into the June 9 race assuming Justify was a winner. That’s despite the fact that it would mean completing the journey in a matter of 112 days, as the chestnut Scat Daddy colt went from un-raced to champ.

The jockey worried only about getting out of the gate well in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont.

“I don’t ever put the cart before the horse, so to say, and all that kind of stuff. But when I crossed the wire in the Preakness, it was pretty much Triple Crown for me,” Smith said. “I thought all along that Justify’s favorite track would probably be the Belmont. He’s a big, powerful, long-striding horse. I thought those turns would suit him really well.”

When it comes to next year’s Triple Crown series, Smith said not to count out Roadster, the third-place finisher in Monday’s Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity. He also expressed excitement in the return mount on 3-year-old McKinzie, another Bob Baffert trainee preparing for the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby.

It’ll be hard to come by another horse like Justify, but even in the twilight of his career, “It can be done again,” Smith said with a laugh. “I ain’t done yet.”