b'HorSe oF THe yeArJustifyThe facts are stark: Justify in 2018 be-came only the second Triple Crown winner in the century-old grouping of the three races who accomplished that sweep unde-feated. He undid the curse of Apollo by becoming the first horse since 1882 to win the Kentucky Derby (G1) without benefit of having raced at 2. He ran the fastest early fractions of any other Derby winner in history, and did so in just his fourth lifetime start. He won the Triple Crown 3 12months after his first race. Seattle Slew, the Triple Crown winner on the next-most-condensed schedule, accomplished his Belmont Stakes (G1) victory nearly nine months after his first race.Justify was bred in Kentucky by John Gunther, who followed the advice of his daughter, Tanya, when mating the Ghostzapper mare Stage Magic to Scat Daddy. Justify was raised on the Gunthers Glennwood Farm outside Versailles, Ky.Trainer Bob Baffert reserves the term freak for exceptional horses that go through their training effortlessly and pos-sess gears they dont even show until they need them in the heat of battle. Justify was a freak among freaks from the moment he arrived at Bafferts barn at Los Alamitos in November 2017. Baffert and his assistant, Mike Marlow, couldnt 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 Justifys maiden race in February, anne M. eberhardtBaffert erred, putting blinkers on the colt because he wasnt breaking from the gate well enough. Justify left the gate last Justify won the Triple Crown 3 12months after his first race, an incredible feat. of five that day, then decided to sling-shot himself up past the leaders, setting fractions considered suicidal for maidens going seven furlongs. Instead of folding, as Baffert had expected he would, Justify By Lenny ShuLMan Year honors and another trophy as tophit another of those gears and won by 9 123-year-old male. lengths.Page through the annals of Thorough- That such hardware is awarded to justBetween that race and Justifys al-bred history all you want; there is no pointthe 13th winner of racings Holy Grail, thelowance optional claiming score in early of reference for what we saw streakingTriple Crown, is no surprise. It would haveMarch, Baffert was quietly telling people across racetracks and our consciousnessbeen shocking had he not been so recog- that Justify would win the Kentucky in 2018. Justify, who appeared and thennized. But the path he blazed cut throughDerby, on its face an outlandish claim that departed in what seemed like a wink of anso many obstacles and heavy brush that itseemed less crazy by the day. Justify took eye, nevertheless left an indelible impres- is virtually certain none will follow in histhat two-turn allowance in the mud at San-sion and was rewarded with Horse of thehoofprints. ta Anita by 6 12lengths. Clearly his talent 6709_EclipseAwards_use.indd 67 3/21/19 2:55 PM'