5-Time Kentucky Derby trainer back home in SoCal after win

ARCADIA, Calif. (KABC) -- Winning is fun - but the journey to get to the winners-circle isn't always as great.

"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.

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."

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.