Kentucky basketball team meets Triple Crown winner Justify

A meeting of world-class athletes: Or rather, one world-class athlete got visited by some fans, who hope to one day become world-class athletes themselves.

In the Belmont Stakes on June 9, Justify solidified his place in history as the 13th winner of the Triple Crown. The Belmont is run in New York, but the Triple Crown begins at Churchill Downs in Kentucky. That is where Justify has been living and training during the Triple Crown, and he recently returned.

Justify recently returned to that track to resume training for the rest of his career, and met some fans. While pretty close to everyone is at least a casual fan of Justify these days these fans were, or will someday be, a bit more recognizable. That’s because this particular group lucky enough to meet Justify was the men’s basketball team from the University of Kentucky.

Though a number of these players haven’t even begun their first year of college yet, it is borderline inevitable that in 12 months time several of them will be on NBA teams. They could probably learn from Justify. I’m certain that he is pound-for-pound the fittest and strongest among them. And he’s not near done growing yet!

The team and coach John Calipari got a photo session with Justify and presented him with an honorary Wildcats jersey. One version of the meeting appeared on the Wildcat’s twitter account:

https://twitter.com/KentuckyMBB/status/1007027379133407232

You can see more of the team’s adventure on its official Twitter account. It’s very funny how clearly uncomfortable some of them were giving him treats. He has definitely realized some of the benefits of his newfound stardom though.

Justify’s official Twitter showed another, with Justify apparently at least a bit interested in eating his new jersey. It’s not really surprising, he’s a baby after all.

And just for reference, the number 13 represents Justify being the thirteenth horse in history to sweep the Triple Crown.