Justify claims Preakness, eyes Triple Crown

(Reuters) – Unbeaten Justify pulled away in the fog to win the Preakness Stakes yesterday, as the Kentucky Derby winner set the stage for a Triple Crown bid next month.

The heavily favoured three-year-old chestnut colt overcame the initial challenge of Good Magic on a sloppy track at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore to add to his Churchill Downs triumph with a fifth victory in as many races.

A hard-charging Bravazo finished second and Tenfold was third as Good Magic faded towards the end of the 1 3/16 mile (9.5 furlongs) dirt track race.

A victory in the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 9 would earn trainer Bob Baffert his second U.S. thoroughbred racing Triple Crown in four years after American Pharoah achieved the feat in 2015.