LEXINGTON, Ky. — Justify encountered "hostility," according to trainer Bob Baffert, before and during his Triple Crown run.
He's getting animosity after it, too.
Conspiracy theorists, haters and even a rival owner have pointed to Restoring Hope, a fellow Baffert trainee who finished Saturday 38 ¾ lengths back, as running interference to help Justify earn the final jewel in the Triple Crown.
Nonsense, I say.
Restoring Hope broke at 37-1 odds and jockey Florent Geroux guided him wide into the first turn to secure the second position down the backstretch. He then was swallowed up by the pack going into the final turn and Vino Rosso, owned by outspoken Justify-Restoring Hope critic Mike Repole, was within striking distance and had an open lane to pass for the lead.
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Repole claimed to the New York Post that Restoring Hope ran more like, "an offensive lineman than a racehorse trying to win the Belmont.”
There's no conspiracy here — Justify was the superior horse and Vino Rosso was not good enough to beat him.
Vino Rosso, who also had a stablemate in the field with Noble Indy, had five weeks off after finishing ninth in the Kentucky Derby. And he gave it his best try in the mile-and-one-half race Saturday, positioning second headed to the home stretch and got out-ran by one of the best horses of all time and crossed the finish line fourth.
For Repole's accusation to be true, Baffert convinced Restoring Hope's owners, Gary and Mary West, that another horse lacking their investment was in their best interest to win. Same goes for Geroux.
The Wests won the 2013 Breeders' Cup Juvenile with New Year's Day. But they've never won an American Classic like the Belmont. Same for Geroux, who won the 2017 Breeders' Cup Classic aboard Gun Runner but has never won a Triple Crown race.
These people would be willing to give up glory, money and prestige for another thoroughbred to achieve history?
Nonsense.
"Everybody that gets in my barn has an equal opportunity," said Baffert the day before the Belmont. "Sometimes I have two horses, three horses. I'm very fortunate that they send me these horses, and I train for these clients. They all want to win and the owner (of Restoring Hope), they'd love to knock off Justify. That's why we're in the game."
See also: Justify relaxed after Triple Crown win
Restoring Hope ran to the script of his race. Not anybody else's. In the race-day program, Restoring Hope was said to be "a strong work horse, it remains to be seen whether this colt can run a strong race in the Belmont."
Baffert echoed this assessment after the race when asked if he used Restoring Hope to block for Justify.
"No, Restoring Hope, he has natural speed, and his only chance was to be up near the lead in the first wave because he’s like a one-dimensional horse," Baffert said.
Restoring Hope took his shot and finished where he was supposed to — a workmanlike eighth-place.
For a horse that at one time Baffert said he believed would compete in the Kentucky Derby, this was the best he could do. His best chance was to blast out quick and hope superior overall horses like Justify, Vino Rosso and others had some sort of racing issue.
And that's what all this is — one of those typical racing deals.
Sometimes race horses catch good breaks or bad breaks or no breaks at all. And fans, gamblers, writers, opinion-havers, whoever are left to dissect and compare and love or hate.
There are plenty of reasons to discredit or disparage Justify's Triple Crown.
He didn't out-do a notable rival (like Sham or Alydar); he didn't run as a 2-year-old (unconventional path); he came along just three years after the beloved American Pharoah broke a 37-year drought; his owners are a confusing, non-relatable mega-partnership including a mysterious group from China and billionaire investor George Soros.
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His aggregate time for the three Triple Crown races (6:28.71) wasn't as fast as Secretariat (6:16.4), Affirmed (6:22.4), Seattle Slew (6:26.2) or Pharoah (6:28.3).
But, still, he crossed the line first in the three greatest horse races in the world.
And he needed conspirator efforts to do it?
Nonsense.
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