Justify impresses Baffert in gallop; Good Magic arrives at Pimlico

Trainer Bob Baffert was on hand Monday morning at Churchill Downs to watch Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Justify train, two days before he ships to Pimlico for Saturday’s Preakness (G1).

Justify jogged to the front of the grandstand before turning around for a brisk gallop.

“I just loved the way he went around there,” Baffert said. “He looks no different than he did before the Kentucky Derby, so we’re pretty happy where we are right now. He looks healthy. He didn’t lose an ounce of weight, which is important. That’s one thing about him. The next day (after the Derby) when I brought him out, he was so bright and full of energy, I was pretty impressed myself. Usually, all my Derby winners, it takes them about five days to really snap out of it. But he was pretty sharp the whole time.

“You can tell by their eyes, their body language that he’s enjoying it out there. He wanted to go faster than the rider (allowed). That tells me he’s still on ‘go.'”

Baffert said that Justify has been re-shod with a full shoe on his left hind foot and with the hoof adhesive Equilox added. Justify had been training in a “three-quarter” shoe, where the heel end on one side is cut back to alleviate pressure on a bruised area that manifested itself after the Derby.

“Any time you run horses on a wet track, it’s very abrasive, especially that day. It burns their heels and that’s when bruised feet come out. I looked at it and said, ‘Start treating it,’ because when you get heat, you’ll get ‘scratches’ or cracked heels. But we jumped on it right away. He looked much better in the afternoon.”

Justify is scheduled to fly to Baltimore Wednesday. He is expected to van to Louisville International Airport around 10:30 a.m. (EDT) or shortly thereafter. The Tex Sutton Forwarding Company equine flight is expected to leave about noon and arrive at Baltimore-Washington International Airport about 1:30 p.m.

Justify was the first horse since Apollo in 1882 to win the Kentucky Derby without having raced as a two-year-old, but several horses this century have won the Preakness without juvenile form. They include Red Bullet (2000), Bernardini (2006), Curlin (2007), and Cloud Computing (2017).

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Champion juvenile and Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic arrived at the Pimlico stakes barn from New York at approximately 10:50 a.m. Monday, becoming the first Preakness candidate to arrive at the Baltimore oval. Good Magic is bedded down in Stall 26 and will be overseen by Jose Hernandez prior to trainer Chad Brown’s arrival later in the week.

Good Magic is scheduled to visit the track Tuesday morning at a time to be determined.

Arriving late Monday afternoon at Pimlico was the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Bravazo and Sporting Chance, who vanned 11 1/2 hours from Churchill.

“We were good all day. It was fine,” Lukas said. “Those horses were comfortable. They didn’t break a sweat. There are two fans on every horse and there are big box stalls in that trailer. We fed them right on time.”

Both colts will visit the track bright and early Tuesday.

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Tenfold, who also did not race at two and comes into the Preakness off three starts, worked four furlongs in :49.40 at Churchill Downs on Monday.

“I thought he moved well – very athletic horse,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “He’s doing good.”

After winning his first two starts, Tenfold was fifth in the Arkansas Derby (G1).

“As far as timing-wise, I felt (the Preakness) was good for him,” Asmussen said. “It was dependent on how he worked last week, mainly. He was doing well when he came in here and he put in a really nice work. Hopefully, he’ll move up considerably from the experience of the Arkansas Derby, in that he had two races that went completely his way.

“I was disappointed with his run in Arkansas, but I think he can move forward from it. Where exactly that puts him with this three-year-old group is yet to be determined. A very good measuring stick will be Saturday.”

Asmussen trained both Tenfold’s sire, Curlin, the 2007 Preakness winner, and his dam, Temptress.

“Both of them were growthy horses that got better with time,” he said. “Maybe, just emotionally, I really always liked the horse because of that connection, his personality. But I think he has a ton of talent. He’s going to have very good races in his future. I’m just hoping Saturday is what we’re talking about and not a year from now. He’s got a lot of talent, but he is still somewhat young mentally.”