Justify trainer Baffert to throw out first pitch at Tuesday’s Mets game

by NYRA Press Office

Three years ago, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert had to wait until a Triple Crown was secured before he threw out a ceremonial first pitch, doing so at Dodger Stadium just three days after American Pharoah became the 12th Triple Crown winner.

On Tuesday, Baffert will get to take a major league mound again, continuing a busy week that will culminate with Justify going for racing immortality with his own Triple Crown bid in the 150th running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on Saturday, June 9.

The 65-year-old is slated to throw out the first pitch before the New York Mets face the Baltimore Orioles in an interleague matchup at Citi Field at 7 p.m. The Mets home park in Flushing, Queens will be the site of the Belmont Stakes draw at 5:30 p.m., where the post positions for Justify and the other “Test of the Champion” contenders will be announced.

Baffert, who is based in California, wore a Dodgers jersey in 2015, bringing his son Bode to the mound with him as he threw to then-Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis before a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. As a right-hander, Baffert threw from the rubber and arced a high throw. He also threw out a first pitch in 2002, when War Emblem won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness before a loss in the Belmont Stakes.

Baffert is looking to join fellow Hall of Famer James “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons as the only trainers to win two Triple Crowns. Fitzsimmons trained Gallant Fox in 1930 and Omaha in 1935.

Last year, two Hall of Fame jockeys who ride extensively on the NYRA circuit, John Velazquez and Javier Castellano, both threw out respective ceremonial first pitches before the Mets played the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Belmont Stakes draw, from Citi Field’s Foxwoods Club, will be streamed live at nyra.com.