Saratoga waits for Justify’s itinerary

The last thing Bob Baffert wants to talk about is the thing everyone else wants to talk about.

That is the future for sport’s newest superstar, the 3-year-old colt named Justify who became just the 13th Triple Crown winner in racing history when he won the Belmont Stakes on June 9.

A report in the Daily Racing Form quoted Baffert saying the first option for Justify’s next race was the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Sunday, July 29. That would be followed by the $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday, Aug. 25.

When Baffert answered his cellphone Monday afternoon, the first thing he wanted to do was squash that report. He said he never said what the Racing Form said he said.

“Fake news,” Baffert said. “Are you kidding me? I can’t talk to anyone! We don’t even know if he is going to run again. Everyone is trying to beat everyone to the punch. I understand that everyone wants to talk about him because he is the news. Everyone wants him. We would love to run him again, but I am going to be very conservative with him.”

That’s why he won’t even entertain any ideas of what could be next for Justify, who has had a grueling schedule this year. He started his career on Feb. 18 and when he won the Belmont Stakes, on June 9, it was a span of only 111 days.

He won six races during that time, including the first two legs of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby on May 5 and the Preakness on May 19. All Baffert wants the horse to do now is rest. He will huddle with offiicals from WinStar Farm, the majority owner of the horse, and make a decision.

That could be weeks from now.

Justify arrived at Baffert’s California barn at Santa Anita on Sunday after spending a week at the trainer’s barn at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Baffert said that after the report broke in the Racing Form, he received a call from an official at Monmouth Park thanking him for picking the Haskell.

“We have not committed to anything,” Baffert said. “All these tracks want him. I was starting to get the questions as soon as he crossed the finish line in the Belmont. I know that people want to make plans, they want to go and see him run. When he runs, it becomes an event, just like it was with Pharoah.”

Pharoah is American Pharoah, who won the Triple Crown for Baffert in 2015. Following his sweep in the spring classics, American Pharoah’s next start was the Haskell and then, six days before the Travers, a decision was made for American Pharoah to come to Saratoga. He lost the Midsummer Derby to Keen Ice.

The day before that race, more than 15,000 people showed up to watch American Pharoah gallop on the Spa track at 8:30 a.m.

“That was the first time I was ever overwhelmed,” Baffert said. “I said, ‘Man, this is pressure.’ I think I lost focus a little bit. I wasn’t all-in on the Travers that year.”

Baffert said that experience will have no impact on whether or not Justify comes here. Baffert has won the Travers the past two summers (Arrogate and West Coast) and dismisses the notion he doesn’t like coming to the Spa.

“I really don’t know where that started,” he said. “I love coming there. I don’t like coming there if I can’t win. When you win there, it’s on the biggest stage.”

The Haskell could become an attractive option for Baffert, who has won the race eight times, all since 2001. Originally, he was going to target McKinzie, at one time his Triple Crown first-stringer, to the Haskell. McKinzie missed the Triple Crown races because of a leg injury and Baffert had the Haskell for his comeback race.

Baffert said Monday that won’t happen. The horse just began jogging again and Baffert said McKinzie won’t make the Haskell. If McKinzie were running in the Haskell, it would have been highly unlikely Baffert would run Justify against him.