Justify ‘his professional self’ in Belmont 2018 gallop

The normally straight-faced Jimmy Barnes, who on Friday said Justify was “breathing fire” on the racetrack, cracked a smile Saturday morning when asked whether he’s running out of racing cliches when it comes to the Triple Crown hopeful.

The chief assistant to trainer Bob Baffert said Justify was simply “his professional self” while galloping a mile and a half toward the 2018 Belmont Stakes. The colt remains on schedule for his final breeze for the race on Monday.

“Every day’s been a good training day for us,” said Barnes, who led Justify to the track and again had exercise rider Humberto Gomez in the irons.

Even though Preakness Stakes third-place finisher Tenfold breezed during the training time limited to Belmont contenders at Churchill Downs, it was Justify who the cameras followed. Such is the nature of a Triple Crown bid.

“Absolutely, yeah,” Barnes said. “But you know, it’s nice. It’s quiet out there. It’s good for us to train like that. It makes it much easier to train for us with just a few horses out there.”

Justify is looking to become American racing’s 13th horse to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. The son of Scat Daddy, especially precocious, has done so despite not debuting until Feb. 18.

Also a standout in the mornings, Justify was “full of energy” and “very happy” Saturday, a week out from his attempt at making history — plus following former Baffert trainer American Pharoah’s 2015 Triple Crown.

Barnes also reported all is well with the Baffert barn’s second Belmont entry, Restoring Hope.