Do you think Audible (third place in the KD) would have had a chance to catch Justify in the Belmont? Both horses are owned by the same ownership group but trained by different trainers. Audible did not run in the Preakness, and it was decided not to run Audible in the Belmont after Justify won a fog-filled race at the Preakness at least a half length to a ahead, but with other horses closing at the finish (likely due to Justify's testing battle with Good Magic for most of the race).
Audible (who was a KD favorite) likely might have made things more interesting for Justify in the Belmont. Congrats to Justify for three well-run races! He's a big strapping beautiful horse with a long, ground-covering stride. Perhaps he intimidates some of the other horses.
It looked like Baffert's strategy for the Belmont was to use one of Justify's stablemates to pace the race in order to keep the fractions reasonable and to give Justify the best chance for the stretch run. None of the other horses looked like they were close to truly challenging Justify, but Gronkowski sure came on strong from dead last to take second.
Baffert admits that American Pharoah is his first love, and he believes AP could have beat Justify. It doesn't diminish Justify's remarkable feat though. Surely Secretariat could have beaten AP and Justify, as well as most other Triple Crown winners.
I wonder when they might race Justify again since he's undefeated. They will probably be selective how and where they race him, so as not to risk tarnishing his value. Maybe Audible and Justify will match up again down the road.
ETA:
After checking out the KD race again, it looks to me like Justify beat Audible fair and square there, and Audible was also third behind Good Magic in the KD. As mentioned earlier, Good Magic battled Justify in the Preakness. That was a fog-ridden race. Good Magic challenged Justify on the rail until the stretch when Justify pulled away, and Good Magic faded to place fourth, but never gave up. Good Magic's trainer said GM should have been held off the pace since he's not a front-running horse. Plus, he didn't have a good position being pressed on the inside. GM was not entered into the Belmont due to not being considered a horse who could run well at that distance.
That being the case, it seems as if Justify is the cream of the crop and likely would have won Triple Crown even with Audible entered in the Belmont. In any case, the ownership was not taking a chance in running Audible against Justify with the high money stakes involved (and Audible was also reportedly not in game shape for the Belmont; he's being prepped for other races). Both Mike Smith and trainer Baffert say that Justify is a very intelligent horse with great calm and grit.
