ELMONT, N.Y. -- As he crossed the finish line first, jockey Mike Smith opened his arms to the heavens as if to say, "What more can this horse do?"
Before Saturday, horse racing had 12 other Triple Crown winners. But like Christopher Columbus crossing the Atlantic by ship or Charles Lindbergh the same by air, Justify did something first.
Though he also won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 1977 while unbeaten, Seattle Slew furthered his education, as do most horses, with 2-year-old racing. Justify got here by virtual correspondence course, not going to the post until Feb. 18 before his first of six epochal races in 111 days. On May 5, he became the first Kentucky Derby winner since Apollo in 1882 without a juvenile campaign.
On Saturday, the chestnut son of Scat Daddy aced the 150th Test of the Champion as if it were an open-book exam, leading the mile-and-half Belmont from gate to wire and prevailing by 1 3/4 lengths. Justify went off at program odds of 4-5, paying $3.60, $3.50 and $2.80 after holding off 24-1 longshot Gronkowski in the stretch at Belmont Park.
"He's sent from heaven," Smith said after Justify joined American Pharoah (2015) as Triple Crown winners trained by fellow Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. Legendary Hall of Famer trainers Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons and Ben Jones also had two Triple Crown champions.
"It's just amazing ... it never gets old," Baffert said. A third Belmont victory, after five in the Kentucky Derby and seven in the Preakness, gave the white-haired trainer a record 15 in the series, breaking a tie with fellow Hall of Famer Wayne Lukas.
"American Pharoah, he'll always be my first love," said Baffert, 65, who lost the Belmont with three Triple Crown hopefuls in six years before scoring with the Arkansas Derby and Rebel Stakes winner of 2015.
Of Justify, "He was showing me the same signs; he showed me that brilliance."
Quite a race unfolded behind the leader though not affecting the winner.
Gronkowski missed the break, said trainer Chad Brown, and then was hostage to a slow pace, Justify getting away with a 25.10-second third quarter. But after a strong move on the second turn from ninth to third, Gronkoswki put himself in position for an upset.
"My thought turning for home was that he [Gronkowski] had a chance to get him [Justify] if Justify was vulnerable at a mile and a half," Brown said. "And I thought maybe, because I could see Gronkowski flying, but he just couldn't get to that horse."
Hofburg, still eligible for an entry-level allowance, finished third at 5-1. Vino Rosso placed fourth, followed by Oaklawn Park winners Tenfold and Bravazo, with Free Drop Billy, Restoring Hope, Blended Citizen and Noble Indy rounding out the field.
For Smith, 52, a former Oaklawn regular, sweeping the Triple Crown represents the capstone of a career lasting more than 30 years. He has ridden some of the sport's greatest champions, although he blamed himself for the only loss of Zenyatta's 20-race career after the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.
"I can't describe the emotions going through my body right now," said Smith, dedicating the victory to disabled riders and singling out the recuperating Marlon St. Julien.
Smith calls himself little more than a passenger on the Justify express, saying his job is to break alertly and let the colt do the rest. After breaking from post seven in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Justify won the Belmont from the rail, bursting in front by 1 1/4 lengths through the opening quarter of 23.37 seconds.
"He's just brilliant," Smith said. "Did you see standing him in the gate? He's standing so still ... I actually thought he's not going to break today. I mean, he left there like he was going 440 yards in Riudoso, New Mexico."
Baffert-trained Restoring Hope, at 37-1, tracked his stablemate through a mile in 1:38.09, Justify leading by two lengths. With the crowd noise building, Justify maintained the advantage into the stretch under pressure first from 7-1 Vino Rosso and then by Gronkowski.
Any stamina concerns about Justify, especially after recording the lowest speed figure of his career in the Preakness, were quickly scotched. With Smith pointing the way, Justify went under the wire first in 2:28.18 and crossed into the threshold of history.
"Superior horse. I mean, he could have won every race on the undercard today," Baffert said. "He's just that kind of horse."
Hear, hear, said Brown, whose Gronkowski (named for and partly owned by the New England Patriots tight end) ran the race of his life in his North American debut: "That was a spectacular performance, what Bob did with this horse. There can't be anything greater for the sport."
Like Columbus for exploration and Lindbergh for aviation, horse racing has never seen one like Justify.
Sports on 06/10/2018