Belmont Stakes 2018 Results: Justification was Justified for Justify (Video Included)

Justify controlled the pace just like American Pharoah in the 2015 Belmont Stakes to win the 150th Belmont Stakes and become the 13th Triple Crown winner.  In other words, he went wire to wire and had it in the bag, winning handily. The winning margin was 1 3/4 lengths, the time was way off Secretariat's record, 2:28.18.

Justify became the second undefeated Triple Crown winner (Seattle Slew is the first), and he is the  mostly lightly raced.  He never raced as a two-year-old.  It is the second Triple Crown for trainer Bob Baffert.

Justify was from the second to the last crop of sire Scat Daddy, who died an untimely death when he had a heart attack in 2015.  His last crop are two-year-olds this year.

At 52, Mike Smith is the oldest jockey ever to win a Triple Crown.  He is nearly a decade older than the previous oldest, Victor Espinoza, who won the series aboard American Pharoah.

Snip:

Justify, winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness last month and a huge favorite Saturday, beat Gronkowski to take the 150th Belmont Stakes. After the win in Elmont, N.Y., Justify became the second Triple Crown winner in four years, following American Pharoah, another Bob Baffert-trained horse.

Hofburg, highly regarded, was third.

It was obvious Justify nearly lost the Preakness three weeks ago because he didn't control the pace. There was no repeat here. Mike Smith had plenty of horse.

The Triple Crown trophy has been completely revamped, and it is huge.

The race from the official video from NBC Sports:

I Headed Over to Carson City

to attend the grand opening of a new casino called Bodines, at the intersection of Highway 395 and Highway 50. The Carano family who owns the Eldorado Hotel and Casino in Reno are partners in the new venture.





I normally wouldn't go to a grand opening of anything, but I did today because of who else was going to be there. Top thoroughbred trainer Bob Baffert (left), who trained Silver Charm and Real Quiet to win the 1997 and 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness respectively but both horses came up short in the Belmont, was there as I came around the front of the building. Baffert is easy to spot with his white hair. He was talking to the media as well as talking to fans. I got a chance to shake his hand and speak with him for a bit. He seems to be a very nice, very approachable person.




Also on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony was famous jockey Laffit Pincay (right), who rode many top horses including Affirmed and Secretariat's old rival, Sham. I didn't get a chance to speak with him. He still looks good for 61. Until he was passed by Russell Baze, Pincay won more races than any other jockey, with 9,530 wins. He retired five years ago.

Anyway, three other jockeys were supposed to be there, including Mike Smith and Kent Desormeaux (the jockey of this year's Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown), but I didn't see them at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. As I was eating hors d'oeurves, which were damned good, I heard somebody say the jockeys were eating and they were going to be out in "about ten minutes." Well, I hung around with other people outside for probably a half an hour, and by that time, Baffert and Pincay had already gone back inside. I had gone inside the casino, which isn't very big, but I didn't see anybody familiar. There was, however, a restaurant which was above the casino area, but I wasn't going to snoop around there and get into trouble.



I went back outside, and in the meantime picked up a free cap with the Bodines logo on it. I had wished I had had something for Baffert and Pincay to have signed. I sat around a few minutes, then I went back inside the casino again. As I was walking near the restaurant where the jockeys ate, I saw what appeared to be a jockey heading towards the men's room. I thought, no, it couldn't be...but I went towards the men's room and saw about five or six people who were standing there waiting. Yep, the person I saw go into the men's room was none other than Kent Desormeaux. I decided to hang out with the other people, including a couple of the casino staff, to wait for him to come out. After a few minutes, which seemed to take forever, Desormeaux came out and met with us and signed autographs. I took a picture of him with a couple of other people, though the picture is slightly blurred. I gave him my red Sharpie and my cap, and wished him good luck in the Belmont. Then Kent (I don't want to type his last name because it is too hard to spell correctly) asked me if I knew "Mike Pegram." I said I hadn't heard of him. Kent said, "You know Real Quiet." I said yes and said I met his trainer Bob Baffert outside. Kent told me, and this was interesting, that Pegram, the co-owner of this casino, was the owner of Real Quiet, and told me I should come there often. Then he signed the cap in big, red letters with his name, and the name of Big Brown on it. I thanked him. It was great he was so nice to do that. Pegram's racing connections explain why these racing greats came out to Carson City.




I never did meet Mike Smith or David Flores, however.

Obituaries.

Mike Smith, lead singer of one of my favorite early 1960s groups, The Dave Clark Five, has died at the age of 64 following a bout with pneumonia.

Smith had been paralyzed since a 2003 accident.

By the way, it's long overdue the group be inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
_____

Another obituary of note in the music field is the death of drummer Buddy Miles, 60, best known for his work with Jimi Hendrix's group Band of Gypsies.

He died of congestive heart failure.
_____