Justify romps again; Kentucky Derby 2018 trail next?

And now it appears time for Justify to hit the 2018 Kentucky Derby trail.

The Bob Baffert-trained colt did nothing to squelch the hype from a blockbuster debut second out, as the son of Scat Daddy ran to another open-lengths victory Sunday in Santa Anita Park’s fifth race, a one-mile allowance going around two turns.

Off at 1-9 under jockey Mike Smith, Justify blew by pace-setting Calexman, who traveled the opening half mile in 45.10 seconds, and finished up in 1:35.73 over a muddy track. The final margin was 6 1/2 lengths with Justify under a tight hold.

TVG analyst Simon Bray said connections "couldn't have scripted" the race any better, though he added that due to lack of any challenge, the "next prep is going to be very important for him. Baffert likes his horses to have hard races. That’s how he trains.”

"It was pretty impressive," added TVG's Caton Bredar. "When you see a horse as lightly raced as he is — granted, he was supposed to win — but it was the way he did it, the way he settled...with the stretch out there. I'm a believer."

It was well back to the runner-up, previous stakes runner Shivermetimbers, with Pepe Tono third.

Justify ran in the silks of co-owner China Horse Club. He's also campaigned by WinStar Farms, SF Racing and Starlight Racing.

It could be straight to the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 7 for a horse who registered the 3-year-old crop's top Beyer Speed Figure of 104 in his seven-furlong debut.

“I hate to compare him to other horses right now, but doesn’t he remind you of an Easy Goer way back in the day?" Smith said. "Just a big ol’ red horse with a big, powerful stride. The distance didn’t seem to bother him. I know that was just a mile but he could have galloped out another quarter of a mile if he had to. There’s a lot of potential there."

With an off track, three horses — Curly’s Rocket, All Out Blitz and Platinum Equality — scratched from an original field of eight.