By Unanimous Vote, Justify Champion 3-Year-Old Male

Trainer Bob Baffert reserves the term "freak" for exceptional horses that go through their training effortlessly and possess gears they don't even show until they need them in the heat of battle.

Justify was a freak among freaks.

From the moment he arrived at Baffert's barn at Los Alamitos Race Course in November 2017. Baffert and his assistant, Mike Marlow, couldn't get to the bottom of the colt—not during five-eighths-mile works at Los Al, and not when he graduated to Santa Anita Park.

In Justify's maiden race in February, Baffert erred, putting blinkers on the colt because he wasn't breaking from the gate well enough. Justify left the gate last of five that day, then decided to slingshot himself up past the leaders, setting fractions considered suicidal for maidens going seven furlongs. Instead of folding, as Baffert had expected he would, Justify hit another of those gears and won by 9 1/2 lengths.

Between that race and his allowance optional claiming score in early March, Baffert was quietly telling people that Justify would win the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1)—on its face an outlandish claim that seemed less crazy by the day.

Baffert's opinion aside, Justify still hadn't earned a single point toward gaining a spot in the Derby starting gate 28 days before the Run for the Roses. That was when he faced off against multiple grade 1 winner Bolt d'Oro  in the Santa Anita Derby (G1). In just his third start, WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Starlight Racing, and Head of Plains Partners' 3-year-old son of Scar Daddy toyed with one of the most accomplished runners of his generation, defeating him by three lengths.

To watch Justify handle the crowds and new surroundings at Churchill Downs Derby week, it seemed impossible he carried just three races in his portfolio. Nothing bothered the 1,260-pound colt, and he continued to thrive. Stalking the speed-crazy early fractions of Promises Fulfilled over the sloppy/sealed surface, Justify took control with a half-mile to run and cruised to victory against what was thought to be the deepest Derby field in years, bettering juvenile champion Good Magic  by 2 1/2 lengths. He again stared down Good Magic through the mud and fog at Pimlico Race Course, prevailing over Bravazo by a half-length as jockey Mike Smith held back something in reserve for the third jewel.

Justify, finally moving over a dry track, led every step of the way in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), gaining Triple Crown glory by 1 3/4 lengths over the late-charging Gronkowski.

"He ran every pole," said rival trainer Chad Brown. "At the quarter pole of the Derby and Belmont, I felt very good about my horses' (Good Magic and Gronkowski) chances. They both had good trips, but they couldn't get to him."