President Trump will leave the G-7 Summit early Saturday to travel directly to Singapore ahead of his historic meeting Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. By cutting short his visit with the Group of Seven economic powers in Canada, Trump will skip meetings on climate change, energy policy and oceans. Singapore has declared it an "enhanced security special event," with special rules in effect beginning Sunday. As for Trump's preparation for the unprecedented meeting to discuss nuclear weapons, the president said Friday, "I've been preparing for this all my life."

With Broadway riding high off its best-attended and highest-grossing season this year, the Tony Awards will celebrate all that it's accomplished during its 72nd annual award ceremony Sunday.Well-recognized musicals such as SpongeBob Squarepants and Mean Girls are anticipated to sweep the ceremonies, both receiving 12 nominations, along with the quieter, yet notable musical The Band's Visit. Hosted by Tony nominees Sarah Bareilles and Josh Groban, the Tony Awards from at Radio City Music Hall will air at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

The Belmont Stakes is the only thing standing in the way of Justify and history on Saturday. Justify, who cruised to wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, is taking aim at becoming the second racehorse in four years to win the Triple Crown. Before American Pharoah accomplished the feat in 2015, the milestone hadn't been done since 1978. Horses Bravazo, who finished second in the Preakness, Tenfold, who finished third at the Preakness, and Hofburg provide the best odds to play spoiler. The post time for Belmont is scheduled for 6:37 p.m. ET on NBC.

Saturday's women's final of the French Open is an intriguing matchup between Simona Halep and Sloane Stephens. Halep - a two-time runner-up at Roland-Garros - is seeking her first Grand Slam win, while Stephens is going for a second Grand Slam title after winning the 2017 U.S. Open. The two have faced off seven times in their careers, with Halep leading 5-2, including the last five and twice this season. On the men's side, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem advanced to play in Sunday's final.

Prince Philip, the husband to Queen Elizabeth II, turns 97 years old Sunday. From the wedding of his grandson Prince Harry to the former Meghan Markle to his 70th wedding anniversary, the Duke of Edinburgh has had a lot to celebrate this year. He also became a great-grandfather, again, after the birth of Prince Louis. Philip also made his 22,219th - and final - solo public engagement in August.</s>Cheered on by fans wearing yellow foam crowns instead of the Egyptian headdresses that greeted American Pharoah in 2015, Justify won the Belmont Stakes in emphatic fashion on Saturday to earn a crown of his own. Some may believe it is not as golden as American Pharoah’s, but it is a crown nonetheless.

With a white blaze, a sweeping stride and an unblemished record, Justify came to the site where Pharoah ended a 37-year Triple Crown drought and, guided by the same trainer, took his own shot at history.

Ridden by the 52-year-old ironman Mike Smith, Justify did not disappoint the crowd of about 90,000 as he quickly went to the lead and stayed there, despite a pack of contenders closing in behind him, to capture the 150th Belmont Stakes by a length and three-quarters and become the 13th Triple Crown winner.</s>(Reuters) - Justify won the Belmont Stakes in New York on Saturday to claim U.S. thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown, becoming just the second horse to achieve the feat since 1978 and the 13th overall.

The favored three-year-old chestnut colt was barely pushed as he completed the 1-1/2 mile (12-furlong) course in a wire-to-wire win in overcast but dry conditions at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

The victory marks the second Triple Crown win for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who also won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes with American Pharoah in 2015.

The large and muscular Justify, owned by China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing & WinStar Farm, was ridden to victory by veteran jockey Mike Smith.

At 52, Smith is the oldest jockey to ever win the Triple Crown.

Saturday's race, the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes, marked the fifth time Baffert came to Belmont with a shot at the Triple Crown.</s>Justify is horse racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner after winning the Belmont Stakes. It is the second time in four years that a horse has won the Triple Crown. American Pharaoh accomplished the feat in 2015.

Gronkowski, the horse named after New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski finished second behind Justify.

Here is the Twitter reaction following the Triple Crown victory:</s>(Reuters) - Justify won the Belmont Stakes in New York on Saturday to claim U.S. thoroughbred racing’s coveted Triple Crown, becoming just the second horse to achieve the feat since 1978 and the 13th overall.

The favored three-year-old chestnut colt seized an early lead he never relinquished as he stormed around the 1.5 mile (12-furlong) course in two minutes 28.18 seconds for the wire-to-wire win at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

The 24-1 long-shot Gronkowski battled from the back of the pack to cross the line second, almost two lengths behind Justify, while the 5-1 Hofburg finished third amid overcast but dry conditions.

The victory marks the second Triple Crown win for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who also won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes with American Pharoah in 2015.

“This never gets old,” an emotional Baffert said after the race.

“American Pharoah, he’ll always be my first love. For this horse to do it for (jockey) Mike Smith, he deserved something like this. It feels pretty good.”

Baffert said Justify was simply the best horse at the track on Saturday.

“He could have won every race on the undercard today, he’s just that kind of horse.”

The large and muscular Justify, owned by China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing & WinStar Farm, made 52-year-old Smith the oldest jockey to ever win the Triple Crown.

“This horse ran a tremendous race. He’s so gifted he’s sent from heaven,” Smith said of Justify, who was the 4/5 favorite.

Smith thanked Baffert for giving him the opportunity to ride Justify into the history books.

“He’s made a lot of my goals come true but today, he made my dream come true. I appreciate it.”

Justify was sired by Champagne Stakes and Florida Derby champion Scat Daddy and was born at Glenwood Farm in Versailles, Kentucky.

From early on, Baffert said it was clear that Justify was special.

“I’ve wanted to see that horse’s name up there because we knew he was brilliant from day one.”

With the win, Justify, who did not race as a two-year-old, improved to 6-0 in his young career, which started just 111 days ago.

Some had wondered whether the colt might show signs of fatigue following a busy schedule but that was not the case as he broke from his number one post position and was never seriously challenged by any of the other nine horses.

Saturday’s race, the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes, marked the fifth time Baffert came to Belmont with a shot at the Triple Crown.</s>Justify led all the way to win the Belmont Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths Saturday and become horse racing's 13th Triple Crown champion and second in four years.

The chestnut colt is the second undefeated colt to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont, improving to 6-0 in a racing career that began on Feb. 18. Seattle Slew was unbeaten when he won the Triple Crown in 1977.

Sent off as the 4-5 favorite, Justify went to the lead out of the starting gate and led nine rivals around the track's sweeping turns on Saturday. He's the first Triple Crown winner to face that many rivals in the 1f-mile Belmont.

Bob Baffert became the second trainer to win the Triple Crown twice. He did so with American Pharoah in 2015, ending a 37-year Triple Crown drought.

At 52, Mike Smith is the oldest jockey to win the Triple Crown.</s>Bob Baffert is the only trainer to have two Triple Crown winners in his stable.

 Saturday, undefeated Justify went wire to wire to win the 150th Belmont Stakes in New York and even bigger, he

 is the 13th horse to win the Triple Crown…horse racing’s highest honor.

 51 year old jockey hall-of-famer Mike Smith rode the talented horse to victory.

The post Justify Wins 150th Belmont, Triple Crown appeared first on 850 WFTL.</s>ELMONT, N.Y. – It was Justify’s moment, after all.

In a withering display of power and durability, the late-blooming colt who didn’t race as a 2-year-old proved Saturday he couldn’t be worn out as a 3-year-old, thundering to victory in the Belmont Stakes to claim a place in history as the sport’s 13th Triple Crown champion.

After a 37-year drought in which the feat seemed impossible, Justify became the second horse in four years to achieve it, schooled, like his 2015 predecessor American Pharoah, by Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

Justify was bred in Kentucky by Langley, B.C.-based breeder John Gunther, who splits his time between B.C. and Kentucky.

Before Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, which Justify won by 1 3/4 lengths over surprise second-place finisher Gronkowski, the massive chestnut colt with the white blaze had won the Kentucky Derby by a 2 1/2-length margin, becoming the first since Apollo in 1882 to win the classic without running as a 2-year-old. Two weeks later, Justify weathered torrential rain and a blanket of fog to win the Preakness Stakes, setting himself up for the Triple Crown bid.

All that remained was to prove that he had the toughness and resolve to conquer the longest, most grueling leg of the Triple Crown – the Belmont Stakes. On Saturday, Justify did just that before a rapturous crowd of 90,327, leading wire-to-wire to cover the 1 1/2-mile distance in 2:28.18 with Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith aboard. And he did it in the fading moments of a sun-splashed afternoon with a show of versatility, mastering a dry, fast track that represented a far different test than the slop he’d slogged through at Churchill Downs and Pimlico Race Course.

Justify’s dominance in a 10-horse field that included Preakness runner-up Bravazo and Derby horses Hofburg (who finished third), Vino Rosso and Free Drop Billy moved Baffert to tears afterward, as his thoughts turned to his late parents and friends he has lost, convinced they’ve somehow been helping him these last years.

With Saturday’s triumph, Baffert, 65, became only the second trainer to win two Triple Crowns (along with the late James “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons, whose triumphs came in 1930 and ’35, with Gallant Fox and Omaha, respectively). He also pulled ahead of longtime friend and rival trainer Wayne Lukas, 82, to claim a record 15 wins in Triple Crown races (five Kentucky Derbys, seven Preakness Stakes and three Belmont Stakes). But Baffert was far more interested afterward in speaking about how fitting and satisfying it felt to help Justify place his name alongside champions such as Secretariat, who’d claimed his Triple Crown 45 years to the day earlier, winning the Belmont by a record 31 lengths, in a record 2:24.

“The great ones, they just find another gear,” Baffert said of Justify, who improved to 6-0 and joined Seattle Slew as the only horse to claim the Triple Crown with an unbeaten record. “He is a magnificent animal.”

Smith, 52, the oldest jockey to win a Triple Crown, gave all credit to Justify, noting that all he had done was “let a good horse be a good horse.”

“This horse ran a tremendous race,” Smith said. “He is so gifted. He is sent from heaven, I tell you.”

Like “Big Red,” as Secretariat was lovingly called, Justify (an even bigger “Big Red,” at 16.3 hands and 1,380 pounds, compared to a typical 1,100-pound thoroughbred), drew the No. 1 post. While it served Secretariat well, it posed a concern for Baffert, who worried his muscular colt might get pinned against the rail if he didn’t break well.

The first horse to load in the gate, Justify stayed so still and steady as the other nine followed suit that Smith worried for a moment that he might not break at all. But he shot out with a fury, took a 1 1/2-length lead at the quarter pole and never let a challenger get closer than that.

Justify wore different silks than he sported in the Derby under a previous agreement among his four-way ownership group, swapping Winstar Farm’s white and green for China Horse Club International’s red with yellow stars. Baffert had joked earlier in the week that, with luck, the jockeys who had their sights set on beating Justify might get confused by the change.

No chance. Between his imposing size and glistening chestnut coat, Justify is difficult to overlook, particularly with his muscular hind legs propelling him forward.

Behind him horses diced for position. The lightly regarded Gronkowski, dead last through the first half-mile, fittingly played the role of lead disrupter. With real-life New England Patriot tight end Rob Gronkowski screaming in the stands, his namesake colt surged to third at the 1 ¼-mile mark then unseated Vino Rosso for second as the field turned for home.

Smith, with two previous Belmont Stakes victories to his credit, kept it simple, sensing the power in the competitor beneath him. He took his hand away to give Justify a periodic breath, then gave him a squeeze when he wanted more.

“He listens to you–to everything I do,” Smith said afterward.

And on they thundered, with the front-running jockey keeping the red-and-yellow silks clean as the other horses got caked in dirt.

“Once they turned toward home, I felt at that point he’d hold anybody off who was coming,” Smith said.

In the winner’s circle afterward, the deafening cheers and applause weren’t simply a reward; they were vindication.

When skeptics questioned his audacious ambitions for the late-developing colt, Baffert said Justify was talented enough to win the Kentucky Derby with minimal experience. And when they questioned Justify’s grueling workload – five races in a three-month span, with the Belmont his sixth in less than four months – Baffert said his horse was tough enough to handle it.

On this afternoon, they had each other’s backs. Horse racing’s defiant ones proved they were hostage to no timetable but their own.</s>UPDATE: Justify wins the Belmont Stakes to become 13th Triple Crown winner and second in four years.

Only 12 thoroughbreds have achieved the feat in the past century, but Justify’s rivals are already conceding it will take a minor miracle to stop him winning the most coveted prize in horse racing.

At this weekend’s Belmont Stakes on Long Island, the 150th anniversary of the New York race, Justify has the chance to join the exclusive stable of Triple Crown winners after triumphs at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes earlier this year.

The chestnut colt would become just the second horse to win the esteemed Triple Crown since 1978, with the great American Pharoah the most recent to complete the sweep in 2015.

Justify will run from the rail after drawing the unfancied No. 1 post — one trainer Bob Baffert always likes to avoid — but it will take more than that to stop him.

“I think, like all of us, we need Justify to wake up on the wrong side of the bed to have a chance,” said Todd Pletcher, trainer of fellow starters Vino Rosso and Noble Indy.

While American Pharoah charged to glory from post five, past Triple Crown winners from No. 1 include Citation (1948), Assault (1946), Gallant Fox (1930) and Sir Barton (1919).

For Baffert, victory for Justify would see him become the second trainer ever to have two Triple Crown horses to his name.

READ: Meet the tallest, and shortest, horses in the world

“This horse is starting to act like Pharoah,” said Baffert of Justify, which recently became the first Derby winner in 136 years that did not to race as a two-year-old.

“I think I see a lot of resemblance in these two, the way they move … When I worked him after the Preakness, American Pharoah, when he would breathe, he was like he was a machine. And this horse is getting there.”

The story so far

Justify, ridden by 52-year-old Mike Smith, won a rain-soaked Kentucky Derby ahead of Good Magic in May, before handing Baffert a record-equaling 14th race win in the second of the three Triple Crown events at the Preakness just two weeks later.

READ: What is the Triple Crown?

While each of the three races date back to the second half of the nineteenth century, the concept of the Triple Crown wasn’t conceived until several decades later.

Gallant Fox became the first horse to popularize the term with his success in 1930, although it was Sir Barton in 1919 that first won the three races in the same year.

American Pharoah’s 2015 victory put an end to a 37-year Triple Crown drought — a period that saw 13 horses fall short at the Belmont.

Visit cnn.com/winningpost for more news and videos

Smith and Justify, however, are hot favorites to win in New York on Saturday and write their names into racing’s history books.</s>Justify has done it.

The horse has become just the second horse to win the Triple Crown since 1978 as he won the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes Saturday.

"This horse ran a tremendous race, he's so gifted," Mike Smith, who became the oldest jockey to win the Triple Crown ever at 52 years old, said. "He's sent from heaven, I'll tell ya, it's just amazing."

Bob Baffert becomes just the second trainer to have multiple Triple Crown winners in the history of horse racing. Baffert also trained 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

"It's just amazing, I'm so proud to be an American, feel this way," Baffert said. "It's very emotional for me."

Justify closed as a 3/5 favorite. He led from wire-to-wire as he started out of the No. 1 position.

Gronkowksi, the horse partially owned by Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, came in second place.
Justify wins the Belmont Stakes and becomes the second horse in four years to win the U.S. Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.