Justify's got 'more in reserve' than Preakness 2018 rivals

Having bucked history while winning the Kentucky Derby in only his fourth start, and without the benefit of racing as a 2-year-old, the lightly raced Justify could well hold an advantage heading into the 2018 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.  

“Could be,” said WinStar Farm president and CEO Elliott Walden after watching the Bob Baffert-trained colt gallop to open the weekend at Churchill Downs. “And the horse is a big, strong horse. That plays in your favor. You see a lot of horses get sucked up with the run to the Derby. And I think the points thing makes people run a little harder in those races. You can’t miss, so you really have to have your horse ready and honed in for those points races. By the time you get to the Derby, you’re honed in pretty hard. 

“So when you have a horse like Justify, who is 1,280 pounds going into the race, he’s got a little more in reserve than a lot of horses,” he added. “I don’t know what he weighs now, because they weigh them in California when they go to the races. When they walk to the paddock, they walk on a scale. That’s why Bob knows what he is. I don’t think Bob has a scale in his barn. He did say that at the same point, (2015 Triple Crown winner) American Pharoah was 1,180 in the spring.” 

There aren’t too many Thoroughbreds who push 1,300 pounds, with a much smaller pool of such big horses who are so fast.

“That’s a good combination,” Walden said.

In beating Good Magic by 2 1/2 lengths last Saturday, undefeated Justify joined Apollo (1882) as the only unraced juveniles to win the Derby and Big Brown (2008) as the only Derby winners with just three prior races since Regret (1915). It was jokingly pointed out to Walden that no unraced 2-year-old had ever won the Derby and Preakness. Of course, no such horse has ever attempted that parlay, because Apollo didn’t run in the Preakness.

“Oh good,” Walden joked of another “curse,” adding more seriously, “I wasn’t worried about the Apollo Curse. I really thought going into this year that (many) of them had four starts, so it really didn’t matter. The horse is doing well, and that’s the main thing.

“He looked good,” he said of Justify’s training session. “I’ve been really happy how he’s been galloping the last few days… Good energy level, pulling the rider — everything you like to see.”

Jimmy Barnes, the chief assistant overseeing Justify’s training in Kentucky, said Baffert is expected to fly to Louisville Sunday evening. Though Baffert certainly has been known to change his mind, Justify is expected to gallop into the Preakness. The Derby winner is scheduled to fly to Baltimore on Wednesday and is expected to land about 1:30 p.m.

“Justify couldn’t be looking any better,” Barnes said. “Going into Baltimore this next week, I couldn’t be happier with how he looks. The next seven days it’s just keeping him healthy and happy. He had a hard race in the Derby, and the Preakness comes up quick. You just want to go in there with a happy, healthy horse.”

Barnes said the minor foot bruise that surfaced that day after the Derby “looks like it’s completely behind us. Those things take sometimes 48 hours to resolve themselves, so now we just march forward to Baltimore.”