War Emblem

ELMONT, N.Y. - If War Emblem is to become racing's 12th Triple Crown winner, he must meet the challenge of defeating more horses tomorrow in the Belmont Stakes than any of the previous Triple Crown winners. Yesterday, Puzzlement was withdrawn from the race because of a bruised foot, leaving a field of 11 for the 134th Belmont tomorrow at Belmont Park. That is more than twice the average field size of the race when it culminated a Triple Crown sweep. Those 11 Belmonts averaged a measly 5.4 horses a race.

Even-money favorite Paynter, who took second in last month's Belmont Stakes, ran away down the stretch to win Sunday's $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. The victory, in 1 minute, 48.87 seconds, is the third in a row for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and sixth overall in the 1 1/8-mile, Grade I stakes. Ridden by Rafael Bejarano for the first time, Paynter stumbled at the start and was forced to follow 2-1 second pick Gemologist around the first turn and into the backstretch before taking the lead around the final turn for a 3 3/4-length win over Nonios, followed by Stealcase, Handsome Mike, Dullahan and Gemologist.

Seldom does a race of this magnitude come with a story line so straight and true. Two weeks ago in the Kentucky Derby, a little-known near-black colt named War Emblem sneaked off to a lead all by himself. While everybody kept looking toward the back of the pack for someone to catch fire, War Emblem kept smoking on the lead. He won by four lengths. Even before the race was over, trainers of opposing horses began reassessing their strategies. Ken McPeek, trainer of Derby favorite Harlan's Holiday, realized during the stretch run that his colt needed to be closer next time.

When I'll Have Another narrowly dodged being clipped by a rider-less horse who had gotten loose on the Belmont Park track last week, he avoided the sort of complication nobody had been talking about. Who could worry about something like that when there are so many other things that could go wrong? The final leg of the Triple Crown has proved, for almost a century, to be difficult enough without factoring in unruly horses. Eleven of the 30 colts who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness managed to win the Belmont Stakes.

How badly does Prince Ahmed bin Salman, the owner of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner War Emblem, want the Triple Crown? "As badly as I want my son and daughter to get married," said Prince Ahmed, member of the Saudi Arabian ruling family. "Really bad. ... To win the Triple Crown would knock me out." Prince Ahmed - like the trainer who works for him, Bob Baffert - can practically taste a Triple Crown, partly because of disappointments that have come before. Prince Ahmed, 43, and Baffert were close last year with Point Given, the 2001 Horse of the Year.

Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem led a procession yesterday of six horses from Kentucky who arrived at Pimlico for the 127th Preakness Stakes. His trainer, Bob Baffert, said the colt seemed unaffected by his first airplane ride. Baffert and his assistant, Jim Barnes, walked him under the shedrow at the stakes barn before leading him into his stall. "I feel really good about this horse," Baffert said. "He's the real deal. He's like a stealth bomber - black, fast and dangerous." War Emblem will not reside in the stall traditionally reserved for the Derby winner.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The deluxe horse van, shimmering white on this overcast morning, gingerly rounded Man o' War Avenue onto Count Fleet Road at 10:45 yesterday at Belmont Park. It stopped next to a loading ramp. Many of the narrow, paved roads in the Belmont stable area are named after Triple Crown winners, horses who completed their sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes here at this majestic track on Long Island. The roads crisscross with sandy horse paths in a simple, slow-moving configuration in which horses always have the right of way. The ambience is rural, despite the loud and speeding cars on the turnpike beyond the gate.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - The real War Emblem returned to the track yesterday. With Medaglia d'Oro dominating the Jim Dandy Stakes three hours away at Saratoga and no legitimate speed horse around to challenge his pace, War Emblem raced away from four rivals and became the first Kentucky Derby winner to capture the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. On the lead from the break after an unnerving moment in the gate, War Emblem justified his 3-10 odds and covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1 minute, 48 1/5 seconds to add another prestigious victory to a 3-year-old resume that includes wins in the Illinois and Kentucky derbies, and the Preakness.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The morning after the great upset, Ken McPeek, trainer of the great upsetter, repeated what he told his jockey Edgar Prado before the Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park. "Right before I legged him up," McPeek said, "I told him: `Go shock the world.' " Riding 70-1 long shot Sarava, Prado steered the unknown colt to a shocking victory that crushed War Emblem's Triple Crown bid. After winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, War Emblem stumbled badly at the Belmont start and finished eighth.

ELMONT, N.Y. - War Emblem breezed five furlongs yesterday at Churchill Downs in his final serious training before seeking to become the 12th Triple Crown winner Saturday in the 134th Belmont Stakes. The colt's work in 1 minute, 1 second pleased his trainer, Bob Baffert, who will try for the third time to win the Belmont with a horse who also won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. "I just wanted to get a nice little easy breeze into him," Baffert said. "He went 1:01 with a lot left. We didn't let him gallop out too strong.

Bob Baffert calls his son, Bode, over for the cameras. The boy, a shy 7-year-old, relents as his mother brushes a mess of brown hair from his eyes. Then the boy shows what he's learned from his father, the witty trainer whose hard-driving style has led to three trips to the winner's circle at the Kentucky Derby. "Who are you rooting for?" Bode is asked as he stares at a giant microphone hovering near his head. ("Looks like a rat," Baffert had exclaimed.) "I don't know," Bode says, scratching his head and twisting his face to look confused.

So many things can go wrong. That's the reality for any given horse in any given race. Maybe he's burned out from training too hard. Maybe he has a sore hoof. Maybe it's raining and he doesn't like the mud. Maybe he stumbles coming out of the gate or another horse bangs into him. Maybe his jockey doesn't devise the right tactical plan. Maybe he's simply tired compared with the rest of the field. Multiply those possibilities over three races packed with the best 3-year-old thoroughbreds in the world and it's easy to understand why we haven't had a Triple Crown winner in 30 years.

Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey capped a productive day at Pimlico Race Course by guiding favored My Typhoon to a two-length victory in the $75,000 Hilltop Breeders' Cup Handicap yesterday. Sent off at 3-5 odds, My Typhoon out-dueled long shot Flashy Three through the stretch to register his second victory in three starts for Live Oak Plantation. Bailey was at Pimlico to sign copies of his autobiography, Against The Odds: Riding For My Life, and subsequently picked up the mount on the winner for trainer William Mott, the pair that combined to work on the great Cigar.

DO NOT be taken in by the great story of Smarty Jones any longer. Do not be fooled by the Philadelphia hoopla or the parochial references to the Phillies or Flyers or the last time that sports-crazed city saw one of its teams win a title. It was the 76ers, back in 1983. No wonder they're always booing Santa Claus. No wonder Smarty Jones is remaking Philly the city of equine love. Do not be hoodwinked by the fanfare for a common man, which is the theme for every down-home, not-so-blue-blood connection to Smarty Jones.

In this spring of our discontent with the credentials of the Triple Crown candidates, might there be another War Emblem lurking in Saturday's Grade II Illinois Derby at Hawthorne Race Course? At this time two years ago, War Emblem was a virtually unknown colt and the Illinois Derby was an unsung Triple Crown prep race. Then, War Emblem outran the highly touted Repent and won the Illinois Derby. Then, a few days after the race, The Thoroughbred Corp., headed by the late Saudi Prince Ahmed bin Salman, bought a 90 percent interest in War Emblem from the late Russell Reineman and gave him to Bob Baffert to train.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - You know the old saw about lightning never striking twice? Forget it. Consider this copycat thunderbolt that has struck Maryland. Two years ago, Audrey and Allen Murray bought the castoff stallion Our Emblem from a prestigious Kentucky farm and moved him to their farm in Maryland. One year ago, the stallion's son, War Emblem, won the Illinois Derby, Kentucky Derby and Preakness, bringing fame to Our Emblem and fortune to the Murrays. Last year, Don Litz and two silent partners began standing the stallion Eastern Echo at a farm in Maryland.

On a cold, windswept afternoon at Pimlico Race Course, Kentucky Derby long-shot winner War Emblem proved to the racing world that he was no one-jewel wonder. The black colt moved forcefully into the lead at the far turn and held off a surprising local challenger to win the 127th Preakness Stakes yesterday and set the stage for a run June 8 at racing's Triple Crown. Jockey Victor Espinoza steered War Emblem through the 13-horse field, outdueled Derby rival Proud Citizen down the stretch and crossed the finish line just ahead of Magic Weisner, a Maryland-bred colt who went off as the second-longest horse (45-1)

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - A horse most people didn't even know was in the race until the eighth pole charged to a shocking - and shockingly easy - victory in the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic yesterday at Arlington Park. At the end of a day of thrilling achievement and stomach-wrenching tragedy, the unheralded Volponi overpowered his better-known opponents as he registered a 6 1/2 -length triumph at 43-1 odds. His $89 win payoff was the fifth highest in the 19-year history of the Breeders' Cup and second highest in the Classic, topped only by Arcangues' $133.

PP Horse Trainer Jockey Record Earnings Last race Tom Keyser's comment Odds 1 E Dubai Saeed bin Suroor Jorge Chavez 10:5-3-0 $920,800 1st Suburban 'Cap Should press War Emblem early 12-1 2 Volponi Philip Johnson Jose Santos 22:6-7-3 $668,976 2nd Meadowlands Cup Back on dirt, overmatched 50-1 3 War Emblem Bob Baffert Victor Espinoza 12:7-0-0 $3,491,000 6th Pacific Classic Must break clean, grab lead, stay sound 3-1 4 Dollar Bill Dallas Stewart Pat...