Justify Pleases Baffert in First Trip Over Belmont Oval

One of the many things that has become evident in the last handful of weeks of Justify's career is that he doesn't need to take his racetrack with him.

He has won on fast and muddy surfaces at Santa Anita Park. He handled the rain-drenched Churchill Downs oval with no issue during his victory in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). He was equally unbothered by the wet going at Pimlico Race Course during his half-length victory in the Preakness Stakes (G1).

In his first venture onto the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Park track where he will attempt to become the 13th horse to capture the Triple Crown in the June 9 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), the son of Scat Daddy looked every bit at home as elsewhere. The unbeaten dual classic winner put in a gallop that could have doubled for a two-minute lick June 7, going straight off under exercise rider Humberto Gomez to about 1 3/8th miles to the satisfaction of his Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert.

"It looked like he really took to the track well," Baffert said of Justify's first morning of training at Belmont after he arrived in New York the afternoon of June 6. "All my horses I brought up here floated over the track, and he just looked like he was just getting over it really well. He was a little aggressive, a little fresh today, but he couldn't have looked any better today coming around there. I was very happy that he looks like a horse who is flourishing and doing very well. It was nothing for him."

Though Belmont Park is nicknamed "Big Sandy," Baffert said the surface his horses are used to training over at Santa Anita Park is a deep one in its own right. The level of fitness they gain at their base is one the Hall of Fame conditioner says pays dividends when they come to a track like Belmont, which is known to throw some contenders off.

"We've been training over a really deep, tiring track in California, and for some reason my horses come here and they just float over it," Baffert said. "It was really nice."

Justify usually wears earplugs during training, but Baffert didn't put the noise mufflers in Thursday, thinking the setting would be more quiet than it was after the renovation break.

"A horse came up to him, and we usually have (his) earplugs in, but … we'll put them back in tomorrow," said Baffert, adding that Justify does not race with earplugs.

Baffert said Justify will go through the same routine June 8 and will not school in the paddock or the gate before the race.