Zayat Stables' sensational sprinter Justin Squared rolled to another front-running victory in Saturday's $100,000 Chick Lang S. over a muddy Pimlico racetrack, giving his owner and trainer Bob Baffert a Pimlico stakes victory one year after American Pharoah dominated the Preakness S. (G1) over the Baltimore oval.
The 3-year-old son of Zensational is now a perfect 3-for-3 and has been on the lead at every point of call in all of his races.
Breaking from the rail in Saturday's six-furlong contest, Justin Squared threatened to break his point-of-call streak after veering in when the gates opened. But Martin Garcia quickly righted the lightning-quick colt, and he quickly sped to the lead of the seven-horse field.
In the clear down the backstretch and on the turn, Justin Squared got a brief challenge from Formal Summation at the head of the stretch, and then a late-closing Counterforce made the margin about two lengths on the wire without every seriously threatening the dominant winner.
“We were confident and knew he was training well,” said Justin Zayat. “It's exciting to win on Preakness Day.” Zayat added that the colt was named after bloodstock agent Justin Casse, who bought the colt, and himself.
Justin Squared picked up $60,000 for the win, his first stakes start, and upped his bankroll to $129,600. The gray colt is out of Graciously Soft, who is a sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Spoken Fur and two-time Grade 3 winner Unbridled's Note.