McKinzie was among the stars in the First season preps with this year’s Kentucky Derby after three wins in four starts, but ended up missing Also the and Also the entire Triple Crown Period
Marquee summer races following a leg injury in the spring.
While his stablemate, Justify, carried the banner high for Hall of Fame coach Bob Baffert and went on to become the 13 th winner of the elusive Triple Crown, McKinzie sat on the sidelines,
But he is now ready to restart top 3-year-old’s role in the Baffert barn now that Justify is retired.
He made a powerful case for that when he won the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby Sept. 22 by 1 3/4 spans in his first race in six weeks.
“If anything can be taken away from a sting of a Triple Crown horse retiring, it’s a horse like this,” said jockey Mike Smith, who also rode Justify, after the Pennsylvania Derby. “He’s an
Incredible horse. Really proud of him. Bob [trainer Bob Baffert] had him ready. To come off the bench Bob is just a trainer that is tremendous. I felt quite confident that I might be aggressive early and move a little ancient.”
“He had been training really well,” Baffert added following the race. “I always felt like he was the best 3-year-old and then he got hurt and Justify picked it up. He has come back with the off time and has reacted well. It was great to see him return in the game. It was a tall order to go 1??1/8 miles. But it is possible to do it with great horses. I believed we had him fairly tight. I thought we had him fairly tight I felt like that he was the best horse. In the event that you had asked me on January 1, I would have told me we were going to win the Kentucky Derby with that horse.”
The colt, a $170,000 buy at Keeneland’s 2016 September Sale, was appointed for Baffert’s longtime buddy, the Brad McKinzie, a 30-year executive at Los Alamitos Race Course who Died is August 2017.
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