And when Justify made sure the stretch charges of Good Magic from the outside and Audible from the rail lacked the mustard to reach his flank or catch his eye, then defeated Good Magic by 2½ lengths with Audible another head behind, he had Derby savants placing him among the most accomplished of the 144 champions. “I just keep using this word, I don’t know why, but he’s so above-average,” said Mike Smith, who at 52 became the second-oldest jockey to win the Kentucky Derby.
– It was a slog through three inches of rain that fell at Churchill Downs on Saturday, but Bob Baffert-trained colt Justify had the first nose across the finish line at the Run for the Roses, reports the Washington Post. Justify won by 2 1/2 lengths and is now the first horse to win the Derby in 136 years after not racing as a 2-year-old; he began racing in February, reports the AP. He's now 4-0 in his racing career. It was the wettest Derby ever, and Justify, ridden by Mike Smith, gave Baffert his fifth win at the first leg of the Triple Crown. Baffert won his only Triple Crown in 2015 with American Pharoah.