Justify will look to win the second leg of the Triple Crown this year after taking home the victory at the Kentucky Derby. Does it have the backing of experts, though? Let’s look at what some horseracing savants are saying.
Expert Picks and Predictions for the 2018 Preakness Stakes on May 19, 2018
Steve Silverman (Bleacher Report)
Expert Steve Silverman devoted a good deal of his precious time breaking down some of what he expects to happen for the upcoming edition of the Preakness Stakes. Among them, and perhaps the most important, is what his pick was to win the event. While Silverman did not get too specific, he mentioned just enough for readers to deduce that if he was betting man, his money would be on Justify. The three-year-old colt is trained by Bob Baffert, who also trained American Pharoah, the horse than won the Triple Crown just three years ago in 2015. Justify, the Kentucky Derby winner, has yet to lose in four career races. He went unraced as a two-year-old, thus breaking the curse that stood since 1882, the last time a horse won the Kentucky Derby despite not racing as a two-year-old. Per Silverman:
“Justify is an undefeated horse, and he won the Kentucky Derby in impressive fashion. It’s difficult to see anything but bad racing luck stopping him at this point.”
EXPERT
WINNER
Steve Silverman
Justify
D. Wayne Lukas (Legendary trainer)
Wayne Lukas is full of wisdom when it comes to horseracing. This is a man who has trained horses that won the Kentucky Derby four times, the Preakness Stakes six times, and the Belmont Stakes four times. Lukas is also the same sage who predicted that American Pharoah would sweep all Triple Crown races in 2015. Having established Lukas’ credibility, let it now be known that he is picking Justify to take care of business in the upcoming Preakness Stakes, per Horseracingnation.com.
“I think this horse has a great chance; I wish I had him,” Lukas said. “There’s no horse out there right now that can stop him on this run. He’s going to get a mile and a half (in the Belmont). He’s going to run well in the Preakness. It’s his Triple Crown to lose. Ironically, we’ll have two Triple Crown winners in a short period of time. I really think it could happen.”
What Lukas said carries a lot of volume, considering that he has two horses (Bravazo, Sporting Chance) racing his coming weekend at Pimlico Race Course.
EXPERT
WINNER
D. Wayne Lukas
Justify
David McCracken (Bleacher Report)
Like his colleague in Steve Silverman, David McCracken of Bleacher Report is not hiding his love for Justify. In fact, he calls it a “no-brainer” to pick Justify to win the Preakness.
“Picking Justify to win the Preakness Stakes feels like a no-brainer this early in the buildup to the race. For one, no horse even looked close to competing with the three-year-old colt. And second, Justify is being trained by one of the best in sport.”
The only point of concern for McCracken in terms of Justify’s chances of winning is that fatigue could be setting in for the horse. Granted that Justify did not race as a two-year-old. McCracken reminded his readers that the WinStar Farm-owned horse has already raced four times this year. Nevertheless, it does not seem as though McCracken is losing any confidence on Justify to nail it again this coming weekend.
EXPERT
WINNER
David McCracken
Justify
Ryan Simpson – TopBet Writer
TopBet News’ resident writer Ryan Simpson names Justify as the odds on favorites to win Preakness (as per the sportsbook) and likes Good Magic as a sleeper and Solomini as the long shot. In the end, Ryan justifies his pick of the Bob Baffert (who has 6 Preakness wins) trained Justify by quoting his current 4-0 record over the 3-year old’s budding career. Will Justify justify his favorite status (-200) at the Preakness Stakes 2018? Ryan thinks so.
