Updated: Baffert calls 'fake news' on Justify-to-Haskell report

UPDATED: Trainer Bob Baffert told Albany Times-Union writer Tim Wilkin on Monday that target races haven't been selected for Justify after all.

Wilkin issued a pair of tweets about the matter:

Baffert added to Byk, “He still looks unbelievably fresh. It’s incredible the way he looks.”

ORIGINAL: According to the Daily Racing Form, Justify will be considered for the July 29 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park and Aug. 25 Travers Stakes at Saratoga for his next start.

“The Haskell is the first option, and the Travers,” Baffert told DRF's Steve Andersen. “In a couple of weeks, we’ll breeze him back, and we’ll have an idea.

“We’ll sit down and figure it out. We’ll let the horse tell us.”

Reigning 2-year-old champion Good Magic, who was second in the Kentucky Derby and pressed Justify early in the Preakness, represents the main competition should Justify run in the 1 1/8-mile Haskell. Gronkowski, the Belmont Stakes runner-up, could point to the 1 1/4-mile Travers.

Baffert owns a record eight Haskell victories. He has also won the Travers in consecutive years with Arrogate in 2016 and West Coast in 2017.

Justify returned to light training last week at Churchill Downs before parading for fans Saturday evening. He'll do the same this week at Santa Anita, Baffert's base, with another public appearance on the docket.

American Pharoah, who Baffert trained through his 2015 Triple Crown run, returned with a victory in the Haskell, ran second in the Travers and took the Breeders' Cup Classic to finish his career. A similar path appears ahead for the unbeaten Justify with this year's Breeders' Cup run at Churchill Downs, where the colt has already won the Kentucky Derby.

Baffert has said WinStar Farm founder Kenny Troutt and its president and CEO, Elliott Walden, would soon confer about Justify's next race. A consideration: the reported $75 million waiting from Coolmore for the Scat Daddy colt's breeding rights.

Connections were on hand Saturday at Churchill Downs to receive their engraved Kentucky Derby trophies. There, Baffert discussed the pros and cons of racing Justify again.

“The upside is, the party continues,” he said. “The fans get to see him race. It’s nothing about the monetary part of it. The downside is the horse getting beat, something happening to him. It’s a lot of pressure, especially with his value.”

“It’s a funny game. You just never know. Thing can happen. If you see him in a race, that means he is on his game.”