On the morning after his coronation as thoroughbred racing’s 13th Triple Crown champion, Justify took a little victory lap outside his barn at Belmont Park. Bystanders snapped pictures and even stole a few touches of the enormous, 3-year-old colt before he returned to his stall to rest as he awaits his next assignment.
That task could be to continue racing for the rest of the year, which is what American Pharoah did in 2015 after he, too, won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont over the course of five weeks. Or it could be to stop racing for good and just get ready for the business of making serious money in the breeding shed.