Justify may have gotten one step closer to winning the prized American Triple Crown of horse racing, and it has nothing to do with his preparations for June 9's Belmont Stakes.
That's because trainer Todd Pletcher announced Friday, as reported by Horse Racing Nation, that Audible, the 2018 Florida Derby winner and one of Justify's chief opponents on the track, will not run at Belmont Park.
Just a day after Elliott Walden, CEO of Audible's WinStar Farm race operation, said the horse would be "big competition" for Justify in New York, Audible was scheduled to breeze at Belmont Park, according to Horse Racing Nation. But Pletcher told the media, after Audible "just galloped on the main track," that the Florida Derby champion will instead "freshen up for other 3-year-old staple races this summer," such as the Jim Dandy or Haskell Invitational or others.
Audible, who finished third in the Kentucky Derby while trying to follow in the footsteps of Pletcher's 2017 champion, Always Dreaming, had not worked on the track since Louisville, per the report. And he's owned by the same company that oversees Justify, who's looking to deliver Bob Baffert his second Triple Crown winner in four years after American Pharaoh won in 2015.
Pletcher may still run two horses in the Belmont Stakes, which has eight probable horses lined up for June 9.
