McKinzie was one of the brightest stars in the First season preps with the Kentucky Derby of this year Following three wins in four starts, but ended up missing Also the and the Triple Crown Period
Marquee summer races after a leg injury in the spring.
While his stablemate, proceeded to become the 13 th winner of this elusive Triple Crown and Justify, carried the banner high for Hall of Fame coach Bob Baffert sat on the sidelines,
But he is now ready to resume the role of in the Baffert barn now that Justify is retired.
He made a powerful case for this when he won the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby Sept. 22 by 1 3/4 spans in his first race in six months.
“If anything could be taken away from a sting of a Triple Crown horse retiring, it is a horse like this,” said Mike Smith, who also rode Justify, after the Pennsylvania Derby. “He is an
Extraordinary horse. Truly proud of him. Bob [trainer Bob Baffert] had him prepared. Bob is only a tremendous trainer to come off the seat at a mile and an eighth. I felt quite confident that I might be aggressive early and move a little early.”
“He had been training really well,” Baffert added after the race. “I always felt like he was the most effective 3-year-old and he got hurt and Justify picked this up. He has come back with all the off time and has responded well. It was good to see him get back into the match. It was a tall order to go 1??1/8 miles off that sort of layoff. However, it is possible to do it with great horses. I believed we had him tight. I believed we had him fairly tight like he was the best horse I felt. If you had asked me on January 1, I’d have told me we were going to win the Kentucky Derby with that horse.”
A $170,000 purchase at Keeneland’s 2016 September Sale, the colt, was appointed for Baffert friend, the Brad McKinzie, a executive at Los Alamitos Race Course Died is August 2017.
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