Totally Justified Latest Justify Stakes Winner
It was a fourth stakes winner in a week for Justify on Wednesday when Totally Justified (2f Justify x Outstanding, by Galileo) won the Listed P.G. Johnson Stakes.
Looking to break her maiden in the 1 1/16-mile turf race, Totally Justified was put close to the lead by Manny Franco when settled into second. Racing just to the outside of the leader down the backstretch, the filly pulled to within a neck of the leader around the turn to make a serious challenge for the lead.
That horse gave in quickly in the stretch and Totally Justified started to pull away from that one as the rest of the field also started to roll. Totally Justified wasn’t for catching, finding another gear to win by half a length in the end.
Trained by Rusty Arnold for Bregman Family Racing, she has hit the board in two of her three starts for nearly $100,000 in earnings.
“I was very impressed with the race,” Arnold said. “She broke just great, Manny [Franco] had not been on her, but we talked to him about it this morning and he did such a good job. The pace got slow, she was right there, and then when they came to her, as he said, she had a new gear at the eighth pole and kicked on. Very happy. Good effort. Any time you win a stake at Saratoga, it’s great.
The Coolmore-bred filly is a half-sister to the multiple Grade II winner Masteroffoxhounds and one of three winners from three to race out of stakes winner and Grade I third Outstanding. Outstanding is a full sister to champion Magician and Grade III winner Apple Betty.
There is stakes form throughout this family with the page also including champions Listen, Ascoli Piceno, Sequoyah, and Henythenavigator among others.
Outstanding foaled a Justify colt in January of this year and visited champion Epicenter for 2025.
It’s been another huge week for the on-fire Justify, who has seen four of his nine winners since August 21 win stakes in three different countries. The stallion has also had two other stakes performers in that time period as well.