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Woodward Stakes Day Mohawk Million Night Woodbine Mile Summer & Natalma Stakes Prince of Wales Stakes |
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 Justify and assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes on Sunday morning after winning the Belmont Stakes.
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The 150th Belmont Stakes is in the record books and Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Justify was again victorious, becoming the 13th Triple Crown winner. Sunday morning, Justify came out to pose for the media, showing no ill effects from his gruelling Triple Crown campaign. He became the second undefeated horse to win the Triple Crown, Seattle Slew is the other, and made his trainer Bob Baffert the second trainer to have conditioned two Triple Crown winners, the other being "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons.
   Left: Justify poses in the barn. Baffert said, "The media work so hard to cover these races so I just wanted them to get out to get up close and personal with the horse. We get to do it every day, touch him every day, pet him, be around him. I want you to see just his presence after a race. He's now in that private, special club, the Triple Crown, he established himself as one of the greats."
Right: Justify with his Belmont flower blanket. Baffert added, "I'll never forget when Cigar came to Del Mar (in 1996), it was such a big thing to ship him down there, police escort, it was huge. I was like a little kid. And I knew if I ever had a horse like that I'd want to share him with you all. I want you all to enjoy him the way I have. Everybody works so hard to promote this race, photographers out there trying to get the shot, having to get up early to wait on us."
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Left: Bob Baffert and Mike Smith pose with Justify and the Belmont flower blanket. Smith is the oldest Triple Crown winning jockey at age 52. Smith said, "At this stage of my career I think I've accomplished everything, there's a complete feeling. I'm not retiring! With Justify and Abel Tasman I'm staying around awhile."
Right: Justify poses with Bob Baffert. Baffert said, "We'll get back to Churchill, sit down with Elliott (Walden) and figure out a game plan. He wasn’t blowing after the race–he was blowing harder after the Preakness. That was the best work he had coming into all this."
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Left: Jimmy Barnes and Bob Baffert with Justify. Baffert said, “Today he looked fantastic. After a week, it starts catching up with them. It’s been the longest, quickest journey. We were in the office watching the replay over and over. He’s just an unbelievable horse. We’re just so proud of him. We thought he was that kind of horse but they have to prove it. Everybody thinks I’m so opposed to Saratoga. I’m not. I’ve had really good luck there. ”
Right: Bob Baffert leads Justify with son Bode watching in the background. On Monday, Justify flew from MacArthur Airport in Islip, NY back to Louisville International Airport, arriving at Bob Baffert's Churchill Downs barn at 2:30PM. He is scheduled to ship back to Baffert's home base at Santa Anita on Sunday June 17, a day after his connections receive their Kentucky Derby trophy on Stephen Foster (G1) night.
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Left: Jockey Mike Smith, sculptor Robert Santo who created the new trophy, trainer Bob Baffert, Chris Kay CEO of the New York Racing Association, Teo Ah Khing of co-owner China Horse Club, and Elliott Walden of co-owner WinStar Farm pose with the new Triple Crown trophy.
Right: The connections applaud Justify's Triple Crown banner. Chris Kay, asked about whether he will try to attract Justify to Saratoga for the Travers, said, "I'm going to hold Bode hostage until they make the decision! We're always trying to attract the best horses, we were thrilled when Bob brought American Pharoah to the Travers and we hope this entire group will assemble again in late August at Saratoga."
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Jockey Mike Smith, Chris Kay CEO of NYRA, trainer Bob Baffert, Elliott Walden of co-owner WinStar Farm, and Teo Ah Khing of co-owner China Horse Club at the Sunday press conference. Walden added, "Our focus was on each race as it came up so we can now take a deep breath, see how the horse is, let Bob decide as he is so in tune with how the horse is feeling and running. We want to race him at least through this year and then see where to go next. [Bob] will get Justify right and then we’ll make a plan. We’re looking forward to sharing him more. He’s become a household name and I’m looking forward to his next race as much as [everyone else]."
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