Campaign, petition launched to bring Justify to Travers Stakes

The Saratoga County Chamber is working to bring Justify, the 13th Triple Crown winner, to Saratoga Race Course for the Aug. 25 Travers Stakes.

Partnering with the ad agency Fingerpaint, the Saratoga County Chamber has created the #JUSTDEFY campaign to attract Justify’s connections to the Mid-summer Derby, even creating an online petition for fans to sign. Fingerpaint also helped launch #Pharoahtoga in 2015 to attract Triple Crown winner American Pharoah to the Travers. 

There’s a road bump the #JUSTDEFY campaign will need to overcome though – Justify is on the sidelines.

Conditioned by Bob Baffert, who also trained American Pharoah, Justify has not produced any new works since before the Belmont Stakes. Baffert has continued to train the colt, but developing plans for a summer campaign were put on hold when swelling was discovered in the colt’s left front ankle.

The colt is now being evaluated and owners WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Starlight Racing and SF Bloodstock are waiting to decide what’s next.

With the Travers six weeks away, Justify has only a couple weeks to return to training and prepare for the race.

Justify did not debut until this year, going from a maiden winner to a Triple Crown winner in 112 days. The son of Scat Daddy is unbeaten in six starts.