Justify (born on March 28, 2015) is a US Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse who is known for being the thirteenth winner of the American Triple Crown. He also was the first horse since Apollo in 1882 to win the Kentucky Derby without racing as a two-year-old.
Justify first attracted attention with a win in his debut race on February 18, 2018. He went on to win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes to become the 13th Triple Crown winner. He was retired, undefeated, several weeks after the Belmont and became the only American Triple Crown winner in history who was never beaten in his entire career on the track. (In 2024 he was technically, retroactively, disqualified from his 2018 Santa Anita Derby run.)
Justify's ancestors include Secretariat via A.P. Indy, Count Fleet via Mr. Prospector 2nd dam, War Admiral via A.P. Indy Dam Weekend Surprise, Omaha via Nijinsky, and Gallant Fox, all of whom also won the American Triple Crown.
On September 11, 2019, it was revealed via The New York Times that Justify tested positive for scopolamine, a banned substance that can be performance enhancing, in excess of what is normally found in tainted feed. The positive came just a few days after his win in the 2018 Santa Anita Derby. In December 2023, a court judge ordered that stewards issue a new ruling that would effectively disqualify Justify from that race. In March 2024, Justify was disqualified by California racing officials from the Santa Anita Derby, retroactively revoking his undefeated Triple Crown claim and overall career undefeated streak and changing his overall record from 6 wins in 6 starts to 5 wins in 6 starts.
Background Justify is a chestnut stallion with a large white blaze on his forehead. He was bred in Kentucky by Canadian John D. Gunther, who runs Glennwood Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, with his daughter Tanya. Although the Gunthers have a small breeding operation, their 2015 foals also included Without Parole, a Grade I winner at Royal Ascot, Vino Rosso, a graded stakes winner who raced against Justify in both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and Grade I winner Competitionofideas. For this accomplishment, Gunther earned the 2018 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder. Gunther also bred Justify's dam, Stage Magic, a stakes-placed daughter of Ghostzapper. Stage Magic was subsequently named the 2018 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year.
Justify was part of the second-last crop of Scat Daddy, who won the Champagne Stakes and Florida Derby. Although Scat Daddy ran in America on the dirt, as a stallion he first made his reputation in Europe and South America as a turf sire, with Grade I winners including Lady Aurelia and Caravaggio His stud fee when he was bred to Stage Magic in 2014 was only $35,000, though it was scheduled to increase to $100,000 in 2016. However, Scat Daddy died prematurely at the age of eleven in December 2015.
Justify was sold at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sales for $500,000 to a recently formed partnership between WinStar Farm (60% ownership), China Horse Club (25%) and SF Racing (15%), the latter run by employees of George Soros's investment firm. David Hanley, general manager of WinStar, said that Justify stood out at the sales. "He was a beautiful yearling had great balance and leg, great shoulder, and lovely length and neck, and power", he said. "For a big horse, he was very light on his feet, with good action and good energy." In early March 2018, SF Racing sold a share to Starlight Racing, then Sol Kumin's Head of Plains partners also bought a share in late March.
Justify grew into a massive horse, standing at the withers and weighing either or during his Triple Crown run. He was initially sent to trainer Rodolphe Brisset at Keeneland but pulled a muscle and was given time to recover and grow into his frame. In January 2018, he was sent to Santa Anita to be trained by Bob Baffert.
Racing career Qualifying for the Derby Justify did not make his first start until February 18, 2018, in a maiden special weight race for three-year-olds at Santa Anita Park over seven furlongs. Going off as the 1-2 favorite, he broke poorly, then rushed up to challenge for the early lead. After completing the first quarter mile in a quick 21.80 seconds, he began to open up an advantage on the rest of the field, ultimately winning by lengths. The impressive win earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 104 and caused the Thoroughbred Daily News to designate the colt as a "Rising Star". "It's not too late", said Baffert regarding the colt's chances of qualifying for the Kentucky Derby. "I've got a plan... We're looking (for a graded stakes race). He's shown his brilliance in the morning."
Justify made his next start on March 11 in an allowance race at Santa Anita, run at a distance of one mile. As the overwhelming 1-20 favorite, he broke slowly and settled behind the early leaders, On the far turn, he quickened and swept to an easy length win. "I didn't ask him to move", said jockey Mike Smith, riding the colt for the first time. "He came off that turn like it was a stroll. Just very, very impressed. I hate to compare him to other horses right now, but doesn't he remind you of an Easy Goer way back in the day. Just a big ol’ red horse with a big, powerful stride."
Despite never having raced in stakes company, Justify was subsequently ranked as one of the leading contenders for the Kentucky Derby, moving into seventh place in the March 12 NTRA poll. However, the colt first needed to qualify by earning points in the 2018 Road to the Kentucky Derby. Baffert originally planned to run stablemate McKinzie in the Santa Anita Derby and ship Justify to Oaklawn Park for the Arkansas Derby. But when McKinzie suffered a setback due to injury, Baffert decided to keep Justify at his home base for the Santa Anita Derby.
On April 7, Justify entered the Santa Anita Derby as part of a field of seven horses. His main rival was Bolt d'Oro, a multiple stakes winner and another top contender on the Derby trail. The two horses were almost evenly matched in the betting, with Justify going off as the slight favorite. He went to the early lead then set a comfortable pace down the backstretch, moving with a "freak stride" that helped him conserve energy. Around the final turn, the field started to close the gap, with Bolt d'Oro getting to within lengths in mid-stretch. Justify responded to the challenge and drew away for a three-length lead despite drifting somewhat down the homestretch.
Positive drug test On September 11, 2019, The New York Times reported that Justify failed a drug test for scopolamine after winning the Santa Anita Derby. The amount detected was 300 nanograms per milliliter — well in excess of the international standard of 60 ng/ml and the modified limit in California of 75 ng/ml. According to the veterinarian quoted in the New York Times article, the excessive amount detected suggested that it was used as a performance enhancer and was not simply a feed contaminant. At that time, such a drug positive could have resulted in Justify's disqualification from the Santa Anita Derby, which in turn would have meant he would not have received the points required to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. However, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) did not announce the positive and delayed making a decision on the case before ultimately dismissing it in August. In January 2019, the CHRB changed the penalty for a scopolamine test positive to a fine and trainer suspension, which is consistent with Association of Racing Commissioners International standards adopted effective January 1, 2017.
Dr. Rick Arthur, the board's equine medical director, subsequently explained that their investigation suggested that the result was in fact due to feed contamination by jimson weed. One key factor was that horses from five different barns had high readings for scopalimine over the same period, though none of these were as high as Justify's. Arthur pointed out that Justify may well have ingested a seed, or his reading may have been inflated because of dehydration after the race. "Even though the level was relatively high in urine, the blood level was actually quite low", he said, explaining that this and the presence of another drug, atropine, found in jimson weed were consistent with feed contamination.
Baffert issued a statement on September 12 that said, "I unequivocally reject any implication that scopolamine was ever intentionally administered to Justify, or any of my horses."
On December 1, 2023, Judge Mitchell Beckloff of the Los Angeles County Superior Court ordered CHRB stewards to issue a new ruling to state that Justify won the Santa Anita Derby with illegal medication in his system, which would disqualify the horse from the race. The order was the result of a lawsuit from Mick Ruis, owner of Santa Anita Derby runner-up Bolt d'Oro, who filed the litigation after stewards announced they were not required to disqualify Justify. Soon after the decision, a CHRB spokesman said that the board was weighing their legal options. On March 7, 2024, The Blood-Horse reported that the CHRB had agreed to a $300,000 settlement with Ruis to resolve all claims and would instruct stewards to issue a disqualification ruling. Santa Anita stewards issued the new ruling on March 30, 2024, pursuant to the court order. As of the date of the stewards ruling, Equibase has yet to update its official race chart. In April 2024, Justify's owners filed a notice of appeal, claiming that their absence as a party in the litigation between Ruis and the CHRB led to a denial of due process.
Kentucky Derby
The first-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby moved Justify to the top position in the NTRA 3-year-old poll and made him the favorite for the Kentucky Derby. To win the race though, he would have to overcome the so-called "Curse of Apollo" – no horse had won the Kentucky Derby without racing as a two-year-old since Apollo in 1882. Baffert pointed to the horse's natural ability but acknowledged the colt was still green. Furthermore, the field for the 2018 Kentucky Derby was considered one of the best in recent memory, with most of the major prep race winners given serious consideration by handicappers. In addition to Justify, the field included graded stakes winners Good Magic (Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Blue Grass Stakes), Mendelssohn (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and UAE Derby), Audible (Florida Derby), Magnum Moon (Arkansas Derby), Noble Indy (Louisiana Derby), Vino Rosso (Wood Memorial), My Boy Jack (Lexington Stakes), Free Drop Billy (Breeders' Futurity), Firenze Fire (Champagne Stakes) and Bolt d'Oro.
The 2018 Kentucky Derby was held on May 5 on a rainy day at Churchill Downs. Although the surface had been sealed earlier in the day to minimize the effect of the rain on the footing, the track condition was still labeled as sloppy. Justify broke well and used his early speed to establish good position near the rail going into the first turn, running a length behind Promises Fulfilled in a fast opening quarter of 22.24 seconds. These two maintained their position for the first three-quarters of a mile, completed in 1:11, followed closely by Bolt d'Oro, Flameaway, and Good Magic. Going into the final turn, Promises Fulfilled dropped back while first Bolt d'Oro and then Good Magic were put to a drive. Justify responded to the challenge and opened up a lead of lengths at the top of the stretch, widening to lengths at the finish line. Good Magic held on for second while Audible closed late to finish third.