(LEX 18) Justify claimed the first jewel in his triple crown last month at Churchill Downs, but there’s a lot of excitement over the possibility of him returning to the track for the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November.
In 2015, fans witnessed the first grand slam in horse racing history as American Pharoah won the Breeders’ Cup Classic after already claiming the Triple Crown.
This year, Breeders’ Cup officials are excited about the possibility of superstar Justify doing the same when the sport’s most prestigious two-day race event comes back to Churchill Downs for the ninth time.
"It really just adds that extra excitement and people are so supportive of horse racing in this area anyway but Justify it’s the big name," said Breeders’ Cup Director of Industry Relations Jully Byrne.
The excitement stretched from casual race fans to celebrities. Everyone wants to see Justify, including coach Cal and the Cats.
"I told them on the bus, you take that individual picture and you’ll be able to look back on that and people are going to say, you were right next to that horse?" Coach Cal said.
That possibility of a second Triple Crown winner in the Breeders’ Cup has everyone pumped, meaning more eyes on screens and more fans on the property.
"We’re looking at 30 percent increase if he could show up which would be huge and obviously we want to celebrate the Triple Crown winner at the Breeders’ Cup," said Breeders’ Cup Vice President of Media and Entertainment Peter Rotondo.
This year’s Breeders’ Cup will also feature Future Stars Friday when all the juvenile races will run. The classic will be earlier in the day Saturday, starting at 5:45 p.m.
