Justify & The Breaking of the Apollo Curse

The first Kentucky Derby galloped out of the gates on May 17, 1875, with Jupiter—the planet of luck and expansion—rising at 23° Libra. This alone was an auspicious start. Jupiter rules Sagittarius, the Centaur—the half-horse, half-man symbol—and his presence on the Ascendant charted the Derby’s destiny as The Sport of Kings.

In that celestial moment, the Moon followed Jupiter, enhancing the Derby’s popularity among the masses. But buried deeper in the Derby’s birth chart was a planetary setup that would eventually spawn a generational curse. 

At that 1875 post time, the Sun sat at 26° Taurus, just ahead of Pluto at 22° Taurus—a planet considered in detriment in that sign. Pluto's degree mirrors the number 2, doubled for strength—matching the critical fact that no horse without a two-year-old start had won since Apollo in 1882.

And remember: Apollo, in myth, is the God of the Sun. So, it’s no coincidence that both Sun and Pluto have hovered around the "2" markers in charts linked to this curse.

In Apollo’s winning chart from May 16, 1882, the Moon stood at 22°, just like Pluto in the Derby's birth chart. And again, the Sun and Pluto were in close contact, but this time Pluto led, setting what appears to be a cosmic lock.

This alignment—along with Saturn, the planet of karma and delay—cemented the idea that something beyond the racetrack was at play. Saturn’s trine to Uranus (planet of sudden change) in 1882 hinted the curse would only break when history met the unexpected.

• Fast-forward to 2018, and the celestial clues begin to stack. Justify entered the Derby:

  • Unraced as a two-year-old

  • With 3 starts, 3 wins, in a Triple Crown (3) race

  • Born with his Sun exalted in Aries, and—get this—at 7°, the same as his post position.

• His birth chart also glimmers with the 3-6-9 numerological pattern:

  • Mars 27° Aries → 2 + 7 = 9

  • Jupiter 12° Leo → 1 + 2 = 3

  • Pluto 15° Capricorn → 1 + 5 = 6

• Justify's Mercury? 25° Pisces. Add it up across celestial longitude, and you get 355—another 5/5 connection to Derby day.

  But what clinches it is this:
  
  

• On the 2018 Derby chart, the Moon again hits 22°, this time in Capricorn, forming a trine to the very position it held when Apollo raced. Not only that, but the Sun was trine Pluto—a far more harmonious angle than their past conjunctions.

  The stars were unlocking the gate.

• When Justify crossed the finish line first, he didn't just win a race—he fulfilled a pattern seeded 136 years before. From Pluto’s shadow in 1875, to Apollo’s Moon in 1882, to Justify’s 3-6-9 harmonic, the cosmic blueprint came full circle.

• Some call it chance. We call it celestial timing.

In the language of the stars, nothing lasts forever, not even a curse. The skies don’t lie—Justify was born to end it, and the universe made sure we didn’t miss the signs.

You might’ve needed two tickets that day—

One to cash in.

One to frame in history.