Justify gallops into TC history

NEW YORK – Justify defied all the odds on his way to achieving Triple Crown immortality.

The late bloomer won the Belmont Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths on Saturday, giving the sport its 13th Triple Crown champion. American Pharoah ended a 37-year drought in 2015 and now just four years later, racing is celebrating another sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont.

Justify led all the way in achieving one of the sports world’s toughest feats 45 years to the day that Secretariat won the Belmont by a record 31 lengths. Baffert called Justify one of the all-time greats.

“I think he’s the greatest of all time,” Smith said. “I just won the Triple Crown, man. He’s my champion.”

Justify accomplished a lot in a very short time.

Justify began his racing career on Feb. 18, a scant 77 days before the Derby. He won his first three races by a combined 19 lengths, making trainer Bob Baffert a believer.