Justify completed the Triple Crown by winning the Belmont Stakes over the weekend, becoming the 13th horse to accomplish the feat, but the win comes with some controversy. Restoring Hope, a 37-1 long shot entering Saturday's race, is being accused by some around the sport of blocking for Justify to seal the Triple Crown win.
Both horses are trained by Bob Baffert, who now has two Triple Crown horses on his Hall of Fame resume, with Justify following in the hoof prints of American Pharaoh in 2015. Restoring Hope spent much of the 1.5-mile race in second place at Justify's side. At the end of the race, however, Restoring Hope ended up in eighth place, and Bob Baffert wasn't coy in talking about the tactics that Restoring Hope used -- or was supposed to use.
"The plan was to sit off Justify," Baffert said, via Daily Racing Form. "He got really rank with him. He had to get away from him so they wouldn't go so fast."
Fourth-place finisher Vino Rosso's team, however, thought there was a bit more gamesmanship than what Baffert let on.
"It baffled me," Mike Repole, Vino Rosso's co-owner, told Daily Racing Form. "I would have thought Baffert would have wanted Restoring Hope nowhere close to the pace. When Geroux broke next to last I would have thought that was a great scenario, he doesn't have to worry about him. We watched him rush up like he was a Quarter Horse, make a quick right-hand turn, then turn left, pinned [Bravazo] on the rail. He looked like a bodyguard making sure nobody got close to Justify."
Vino Rosso's jockey, Hall of Famer John Velasquez, concurred. "Why would you send a horse that breaks bad and take everybody out, then come back in?" he asked. "That's his job, to protect the other horse and it worked for them. You have to give it to them."
Florent Geroux -- Restoring Hope's jockey -- said that Restoring Hope's plan was independent of Justify's, and he had some trouble controlling the horse.
"I didn't want to break, get the horse covered up and then the horse starts getting aggressive behind horses. It would have been even worse if he was behind horses," Geroux said, via ESPN.
Whatever the tactics, Justify ended up on top and earned his Triple Crown. As for any claims of cheating to the New York Gaming Commission?
"Nothing was brought to our attention," NYGC steward Stevie Lewandowski said, according to Daily Racing Form.
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