Just one month after winning the Triple Crown, Justify’s racing future has been put on hold.
Justify’s trainer Bob Baffert announced that the horse has been pulled from training due to a left front ankle problem, according to John Cherwa of the Baltimore Sun.
“Justify had some filling in his left front ankle a week ago, which subsided in a couple days,” Baffert told the Baltimore Sun in a statement. “I trained him last week and the filling came back. We want to get him checked out.”
Justify’s future racing plans have been quiet recently, too, though the horse is expected to retire at the end of the season.
His injury will keep him from racing at the Haskell Invitational later this month. Justify may end up competing again at the Pacific Classic or The Travers, both in late August, depending on the extent of this injury.
Baffert and Justify’s ownership group, though, aren’t going to rush anything. There’s no need.
“He is too special to the owners, our team and all the fans he has around the world to not be 100% healthy,” Elliott Walden, the managing partner in Justify’s ownership group, told the Baltimore Sun. “As far as any future plans for him, they will be decided after we get him checked out.”
Justify became the thirteenth Triple Crown winner in history — and second in three years — after winning the Belmont Stakes last month, following American Pharaoh’s Triple Crown run in 2015.
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