"It was so stressful. You don't know how stressful it is. Everyone says, 'Are you having fun?' No, I'm not having fun because you're like at a Super Bowl," trainer Bob Baffert said.
[Ads /]
One of Baffert's concerns Saturday at the Kentucky Derby was the wet-track.
"They're leaving (the gate) like they just robbed a bank. So they've got to get this position because if you get behind all that slop it hits and a lot of horses can't take that," Baffert said.
He was watching on a small TV and realized the half-way time was a full-second quicker than expected.
"This is not good, it's too fast," Baffert told his wife. "When he turned for home, he cracked him one time with the left-hand stick. This guy just found another gear that I didn't know he had."
[Ads /]
The win made Baffert just the second trainer in history with five or more wins in the Run for the Roses.
"It really hasn't sunk in - the five part - I was just so relieved to win this race with this horse. We knew how special he was," Baffert said. "He was like a walk-on, like the QB from Alabama. He came in in the second half and just took over. That's what Justify is - nobody can run with him."
Justify will make a run at the Triple Crown - where Baffert and American Pharoah stood just three years ago.