Justify’s historic Triple Crown and undefeated season in 2018 earned the colt both Horse of the Year and champion Male 3-year-old honors at Thursday evening’s Eclipse Awards.
Owned by the partnership of China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing and WinStar Farm, Justify ended his brilliant career with six wins in as many starts while earning $3,798,000.
Justify broke all sorts of records, none more notable than the “Apollo” curse, meaning that no Kentucky Derby (G1) winner had won the Run for the Roses without starting as a 2-year-old since Apollo in 1882.
Justify made his debut on Feb. 18 with a 10-length maiden win. He followed that up with an allowance victory and an easy score in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) before his Triple Crown procession through the Kentucky Derby, Preakness S. (G1), and Belmont S. (G1).
Trained by Bob Baffert, Justify was a $500,000 purchase at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling sale. A son of Scat Daddy out of the graded stakes-placed Stage Magic, Justify was bred in Kentucky by John Gunther.
